28 October 2005
More than 250,000 children share a bedroom with their parents because of chronic overcrowding, the housing charity Shelter claimed this week.
Around 72,000 teenagers share a room with someone of the opposite sex, while 98,000 children sleep in the lounge, kitchen or dining room because of a lack of space, says the report Full house?, published on October 24.
The report, which calls for more family-sized social housing, is based on a survey of 505 households in three London boroughs and Bradford, Leicester and Luton.
At least one child shared a bedroom with their parents in 74% of overcrowded homes, leading to the conclusion that 268,000 children are in this situation nationally.
Adam Sampson, director of Shelter, said: “The health, education and future chances of thousands of youngsters are being blighted by cramped conditions that have more in common with the Dickensian era than those of a modern nation.
'Gordon Brown must fund the social rented family-sized homes this country needs to end the misery of overcrowding.'
PFoct2005
