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Jason and Claudia Mondesir with their boys, Jayden 7, Jevani, 6 and Ceejay, six months |
'HOUSING IS DICKENSIAN'
Westminster suffers second highest level of overcrowding in London
ALMOST 1,000 families in the borough are living in overcrowded housing described as “Dickensian” by a leading charity, with teenagers forced to share bedrooms and some adults resorting to sleeping in their living rooms.
Figures released by Westminster City Council reveal that at least 867 desperate families are waiting for a transfer to larger properties – giving Westminster the unenviable record of suffering the second highest level of overcrowding in the capital.
The West End Extra spoke to one family of five who have been waiting to move from their one-bed flat in Westbourne Park for six years.
They spoke of their “hell” at living in claustrophobic conditions which see them having to bed down on the sofa with their six-month-old son every night and has forced the father to take time off from his construction job with depression.
Living in overcrowded housing increases the risk of depression, makes young children more susceptible to illness, causes insomnia and can severely damage educational opportunities, according to the housing charity Shelter.
The hundreds of families in this position has been branded a “scandal” by Labour MP Karen Buck. It also puts fresh pressure on the council to solve its housing problems and follows recent revelations that 3,000 properites in the borough, 300 of which are council-owned, are sitting empty while more than 10,000 people wait for a council house.
Despite families waiting as long as five years for a home, the council has defended its record of delivering social housing, trumpeting next year’s community build project that will provide 500 new affordable homes across the borough.
It has pledged to rehouse the 1,000 families within the next five years, and points to the fact it has already moved 20 families since making the commitment in April.
Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said: “It’s shocking that in the 21st century we are seeing a rise in the number of people trapped in cramped, squalid, conditions that have more in common with the Dickensian era than those of a modern nation.
“The antiquated overcrowding standard hasn’t changed since 1935 and considers kitchens and living rooms as acceptable places to sleep.”
The laws on defining overcrowding have not been updated since 1935 and some of the conditions considered acceptable under the current legislation include:
l babies less than a year old not being counted as members of the household;
l children under 10 being counted as “half a person”;
l living rooms and kitchens being suitable places to sleep.
Ms Buck, the MP for Regent’s Park and Kensington North said: “Overcrowding blights people’s lives, particularly children.
“People who live in these conditions face incredible difficulties. If one person in the household becomes ill then the whole family does. It’s a scandal.”
She added: “We in Westminster have the second highest level of overcrowding in London, with 30 per cent of homes experiencing the problem.
“The strategy of the council has been focused on selling properties and boosting home ownership, with little or nothing done towards this issue. We’ve seen that attitude change a little recently, but far more needs to be done.”
Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour group in City Hall has echoed her concerns.
“Overcrowding is a major problem in Westminster and the council should be providing more larger properties. Building only one- and two-bedroom flats will not help those families where teenagers have to share a bedroom or where adults are forced to sleep in the living room,” he said.
Councillor Philippa Roe, Westminster City Council’s housing chief, said: “We have made tackling overcrowding in Westminster the highest priority and have pledged to rehouse 1,000 families who live in cramped conditions on our current waiting list in the next five years.
“Since making this commitment in April, we have rehoused half of the 40 most severely overcrowded families, which need at least two more bedrooms, and aim to offer larger homes to the remaining families in this group by next April.
“In the long term, our programme to build almost 500 new homes – many of them family-sized properties – will also help to tackle this issue.”
But she added; “It is very important to note that we could rehouse these families far sooner but our hands have been tied because of government’s pressure to reduce the number of people in temporary accommodation by 50 per cent by 2010.”
??‘We’re in crisis’ Family of five need home
THE leafy surroundings of St Luke's Road appear blissful at first glance.
Just a short walk from the trendy shops and bars of Westbourne Park, the area seems an urban dream.
But for one family, that dream has become a nightmare. Jason and Claudia Mondesir (pictured) face the daily struggle of bringing up their children, aged six months, six and seven, in a tiny one-bedroom flat. Conditions are so cramped they cannot even put up a cot for their baby.
The family have been on the waiting list for a larger home for six years. During that time they have pressed time and again for someone to come and see the conditions in which they are living.
“I just want someone to know. I just want them to send someone from health and safety out to see the way we're living, to see that the Mondesir family is in crisis and we need help. It's been hell. You get passed from one person on the phone to the other, and none of them seem to care. It makes no difference what you do,” said Jason.
His wife says their children’s schoolwork had suffered. “It's affecting the children too. Our two older boys aren’t getting enough sleep for school some nights. After the baby was born the teacher noticed a drop in their performance, and when they get home they have to play on the stairs because there’s nowhere else for them to go,” she said.
The flat has a tiny bathroom in which it is barely possible to move, let alone bathe three young children.
Jason said: “It's crazy, we’re all living on top of each other. At night we take it in turns to sleep on the sofa while the other sleeps in bed with the baby – we haven’t even got room to put up a cot. Yet nobody wants to know, we just get told that we’re on the list and we have to wait and see.
“Well we’ve been waiting to see for six years now and enough is enough.”
Alexander Walters |
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