Families live in “pain and anguish” in overcrowded Tower Hamlets housing because the council can’t find enough bigger homes, the borough’s mayor has said.
Tower Hamlets Council aims to let at least 48 council homes to families in overcrowded housing every quarter. Yet, it let just 30 between January and March – and 38 the three months before that.
Borough mayor Lutfur Rahman, of the Aspire Party, said the fall gave him “cause for concern given the number of families who are living in overcrowded households and the pain and anguish, and the difficulties, that come with it”.
Council housing bosses say they’re struggling to find homes for overcrowded families due to a lack of larger properties.
They say that 42% of the council’s current stock is made up of one-bedroom homes, “which do not adequately meet the needs of overcrowded families”.
The council also says that rocketing demand for temporary accommodation for homeless families has made the shortage worse.
However, officers said they were encouraging tenants with more rooms than they need to downsize.
They also said they had recently acquired 50 recently-built larger homes at a new development in Byron Street, Poplar, as part of a planning agreement.
Speaking at a meeting of his leading cabinet committee last Wednesday (27th July) Rahman said that “overcrowding is a serious issue in Tower Hamlets”.
Rahman also said the council could do more to address overcrowding, such as helping people to downsize faster, and knocking through walls where one council property becomes vacant next to an overcrowded home.
He said: “I don’t think we are doing a good job of downsizing.
“When it comes to housebuilding, we’re leading the way. But with other stuff we can do as a local authority where we can reduce overcrowding, I don’t think we’re good at it.”
Rahman said the council wouldn’t “be able to rehouse everyone who’s on the overcrowding list, but we’ve got to keep up the pressure.
“This is people languishing in overcrowded homes.”
