Mayor must tackle overcrowding
Channel: London Assembly
Date: 2020-09-08

The London Assembly has today called on the Mayor to review all planning and housing policies to tackle overcrowding and ensure that suitable provision is made for family-sized homes.


Andrew Boff AM, who proposed the original motion said:  

“The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the plight of those families in overcrowded homes in London. Tragically, there is a clear link emerging between crowded housing conditions and coronavirus related deaths. 

“I am pleased my colleagues on the London Assembly have backed my call for the Mayor to review his planning and housing policies to tackle overcrowding. For too long, overcrowding has not been a priority at City Hall and we are now seeing the disastrous consequences. 

“Sadiq Khan needs to take overcrowding seriously. As Mayor, he has prioritised smaller homes over affordable family-sized homes despite 360,000 children in London being trapped in overcrowded homes. I hope today’s motion from the London Assembly will finally push the Mayor to act.”

 

Murad Qureshi AM, who proposed the amended motion said:

“This pandemic has laid bare London’s housing inequalities, and overwhelming evidence points to the link between overcrowding and higher Covid-19 mortality rates.

 

“As part of our gradual recovery from the first outbreak, we must make sure “the new normal” doesn’t allow for thousands of the poorest children in our capital to be forced to grow up in claustrophobic and unsuitable conditions.

 

“That’s why I have called on the Mayor and the Government to take specific measures to ensure that the need for larger homes in the capital is properly assessed and that they are built to meet Londoners’ needs, both in the public and private sector.

 

“The Mayor can support this through his planning policies and decisions, but if councils and housing associations are to meet the demand for family-sized affordable homes, there is no escaping the fact that they urgently need much higher levels of grant funding from central Government.”