Housing Crisis In Hounslow: Up To 10 People Living In A Two-Bed
Up to ten people are living in properties as small as two beds in social housing in Hounslow, according to new details from the council.
Like the rest of London, Hounslow is facing a housing crisis with hundreds of families on the waiting list for social housing and groups of ten people living in two and three-bed council houses.
A total of 1,913 households were on the waiting list for a council home in Hounslow as of 28 January, with around 200 to 250 new applications received monthly.
Hounslow Council has rehoused 472 households into council properties and 363 in Housing Association properties between April 2019 and 2020.
There are 16,000 council properties in the borough, which are home to around 40,000 residents, including 13,000 tenants and 3,000 leaseholders.
In Chiswick, there are 2,773 council homes, 730 of which are two-bed properties. There is one known six-bed property.
A total of three two and three-bed properties have ten people living in them, according to a survey of residents by the council. However, the records of 1,009 properties have not been updated by residents.
A spokesperson for Hounslow Council said: “There are some people overcrowded in council homes; we have a legal duty to act and do act if a household is statutory overcrowded,
“They would be prioritised for urgent rehousing, otherwise overcrowded households would be prioritised on our housing register according to the allocations policy.
“There is a shortage of larger affordable homes due to extreme demand and very limited supply, so everyone has to wait their turn ultimately.”
The Housing Benefit limit is £380 per week for the private sector in central Hounslow, and average private sector rents for the borough for a 4-bed are around £580 per week.
Hounslow Council charges a social rent of up to £150 per week for four-bedroom homes and under £100 for studio apartments.
To tackle the crisis, the council has pledged to secure an additional 1,000 new council homes by 2022 and 5,000 planning permissions for affordable homes across developments.