More than 300,000 children in England have to share a bed with another family member because of overcrowding, new research suggests.
Young children, teenagers and their parents are all affected by overcrowding, which is caused by a critical shortage of affordable homes, according to a report by the National Housing Federation (NHF).
Polls found a quarter of parents in overcrowded homes are regularly forced to sleep in a living room, bathroom, hallway or kitchen.
In 48% of overcrowded homes, there wasn’t enough space for children to do their homework, while 70% of families in cramped houses said they experienced poor mental and physical health as a result of their living conditions.
Families are considered to be overcrowded if more than two children under the age of 10, two teenagers of different sexes, or two adults who are not in a relationship are sharing a room, the report said.
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It said 4.2 million people in England are in need of social housing, including the homeless.
The report said a severe lack of social housing was the main cause of overcrowding, with larger accommodation unavailable and unaffordable for affected families.
The NHF cited budget cuts to funding for social housing in 2010 as a key reason for the shortage of affordable homes – last year 7,528 social rent homes were built, 81% fewer than in 2010.
Overcrowded families living in privately rented homes, where fees are sometimes double that of social housing, made up a third of those living in unsuitable accommodation.
The NHF said 90,000 affordable homes would have to be built each year to meet existing demand and house those in need.
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NHF chief executive Kate Henderson said overcrowded homes “can have a devastating impact on a child’s self-esteem, wellbeing, and future life changes, as well as affecting family relationships and making it harder for parents to nurture their child’s growth”.
She added: “Overcrowding is a direct result of our broken housing system, caused by underfunding by successive governments and a failure to prioritise building new homes for people on low incomes.
“As a country, we are failing these families and these children and this must stop. We need an urgent, long-term, national plan aimed at drastically increasing the number of affordable and social homes across England.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “It’s unacceptable for anyone to be living in an overcrowded home and councils have a duty to find people living in these conditions somewhere fit for purpose.
“To ease pressures, we are increasing the supply of affordable housing. Our £11.5bn Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country.”
