Nov 21 2006
A £19 million package of new schemes to tackle overcrowding in London was announced today at a major international homelessness summit, by Housing Minister Yvette Cooper and the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone.
The funding will help by paying for loft extensions, converting unpopular bedsits into family homes, and support for single people who would like to move out of larger properties.
The international summit held in London, with representatives from the USA, Canada, and Europe, marks the 40th anniversary of the landmark documentary Cathy Come Home, which brought the plight of homeless families into the public consciousness for the first time.
New research being published today will show that the UK has one of the strongest safety nets in the world for vulnerable families at risk of homelessness. The summit will highlight the UK's successful work in reducing rough sleeping and preventing homelessness, but Ministers also want to learn from the approaches of other countries.
Speaking at the summit, Yvette Cooper said:
"In the 40 years since Cathy Come Home, we have made great progress helping vulnerable families, preventing rough sleeping and homelessness and improving accommodation. But there is much more to do to help families like Cathy's and the housing problems they face today. We need to do more to tackle overcrowding and to help people into settled homes, including building more new homes as well.
"If there is nowhere for the children to do their homework and only cramped conditions in which to live and sleep, families can face all kinds of problems. The overcrowding standard was out of date even in Cathy's day. That is why it needs to be updated and we need to do more to give people the space they require."
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said:
‘’We received an excellent response from boroughs with some extremely imaginative approaches to tackling the growing problem of overcrowding in London which will be of benefit to everyone who is working to address the problem.
“The new funding will not only provide new large family homes but also free up existing under-occupied homes. In all almost 600 London families will be helped and the funding will deliver additional benefits such as helping to bring back into use long-term empty homes."
The overcrowding standard hasn't changed since 1935. This means that a family of four including a teenage girl and a teenage boy in a one bedroom flat would still not be classed as overcrowded under the current standards. The result in some circumstances can be babies sleeping in kitchens.
Some local councils will not give overcrowded families priority for relocation until they breach statutory standards. The Government is consulting on options for raising standards and building them into allocation policies.