By Neil Merrick
An extra 350,000 people will be living in overcrowded homes by 2011 because of job losses and repossessions during the recession, housing associations have claimed.
An extra 350,000 people will be living in overcrowded homes by 2011 because of job losses and repossessions during the recession, housing associations have claimed.The situation could become even worse unless the government makes more effort to stimulate house building, the National Housing Federation said this week.
In its latest bleak warning, the federation predicted that the numbers in cramped and unsuitable homes will rise by 15%, from 2.3 million to 2.65 million, over the next two years as families are forced to remain in houses that are too small.
An acute shortage of larger properties could mean that, by 2011, 25% of families with five or more people will live in overcrowded conditions compared with about 20% at present, said the report, which was published on April 15.
David Orr, chief executive of the NHF, said living in overcrowded housing was likely to damage people’s health, harm the education of children and put pressure on family relationships.
‘To prevent overcrowding reaching epidemic proportions, we believe [the Budget should include] a house building fiscal stimulus, with around £6.35bn being spent on constructing new homes for social rent over the next two years,’ he said.
