A new study has revealed that more than one in 10 children in England are living in overcrowded homes because of a lack of suitable housing.
The analysis, published by the National Housing Federation, calculates that around 1.3 million children from more than 600,000 families are stuck in overcrowded conditions.
Overcrowding in England is now at ‘record levels’, according to eh NHF, as around 96,000 more children are living in overcrowded homes compared to a decade ago.
Homes are said to be ‘overcrowded’ if a child has to share their bedroom with two or more other children, sleep in the same room as their parents, or share with a teenager of the opposite sex.
Based on the findings of a ComRes poll, the report found that just under half of children in overcrowded homes are forced to share a bedroom with their parents. This could affect as many as 627,000 children.
In more than a quarter of overcrowded homes, children even have to share a bed with a parent or sibling.
More than a quarter of parents in overcrowded homes are often forced to sleep in kitchens, bathrooms or hallways because of the lack of space. According to the NHF, this could affect as many as 380,000 people.
Around half of children in overcrowded homes struggle to do their homework because of the lack of space.
The NHF is calling on the Government to invest £12.8bn every year for the next decade in building new social homes
