Overcrowded Camden families to get extra help

Camden families living in cramped conditions are to get extra help from the council thanks to a new pilot project to reduce the impact of overcrowding.

With 2,923 overcrowded families on Camden's council housing register, the Council will be taking real, direct action to help overcrowded families improve their quality of life.

The Council's new Overcrowding Team, funded by a central government grant, will work with council tenants to offer families practical advice and support on how to better cope living in these circumstances.

In addition, a new £500,000 fund has been set up to pay for work to adapt overcrowded council homes, such as adding toilets or sub-dividing rooms.

The Council has also this week approved some important changes to the Allocations Scheme to give overcrowded families a higher priority for housing.

Living in overcrowded conditions is not only highly stressful, it has been linked to damaging children's education, health problems, and family breakdown.

The council's own research found that many of its tenants in overcrowded conditions reported that their health, privacy and sleep were being badly affected.

Half feared that their children's education was being damaged because there was nowhere to study.

The research showed that people coped better when they were able to make best use of their space and plan their days carefully.

As part of the pilot project, four specialist advisers will help families organise their household routine.

They will help provide practical solutions like bunk beds, fold away desks, extra washbasins and toilets, or retractable partition walls. 

Families will also get counselling to deal with the disputes that can arise when families are forced to live so close together.

Cllr Chris Naylor Camden Council's s Executive Member for Housing, said: "There is a shortage of affordable family homes in Camden and the government's new commitment to building new homes is very welcome. However we have 2,923 families in overcrowded conditions, we want to act now to prevent people's health, education and wellbeing suffering as a result.

"The new project will provide vital support to help people take control of their lives and deal with the problems caused by living in cramped conditions. It could be a simple change that transforms a family's life, such as coming up with a routine to make bath times easier. Or new bunk beds and fold away desks for children to have a space to play and study."

The new pilot project is being funded by a £275,000 grant from the Department of Communities and Local Government and should be up and running by October.

It was announced on Tuesday 24 July as part of a report to the Council’s Executive looking at the Council's priorities for housing.

These include increasing the supply of affordable housing, ensuring all its homes meet decent homes standards, making homes more environmentally friendly, ensuring homeless people get the right level of support to settle into new homes and getting better use of existing stock.

The new council housing Allocations Scheme, also approved this week, gives people living in severely overcrowded conditions extra points, meaning they have more opportunity to bid for larger council homes.

Families with young children will also be able to bid for bigger homes.

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