Brian Paddick

Since 2001, the number of London families living in overcrowded homes has risen from 150,000 to 212,000 according to figures obtained by London Liberal Democrats. 

Families are being forced to live in cramped conditions, with 20,000 households described as being ’severely overcrowded’.  This information comes as the Mayor admits that there are 83,580 vacant homes in London.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Dee Doocey responded with anger to this latest bad news for Londoners:

“The Mayor has let down over 200,000 families living in cramped and difficult conditions. Very little is being done to provide decent housing for larger families. It is unrealistic to provide so few houses with more than two bedrooms.

“We should be concentrating on bringing empty homes back into use to help combat London’s housing shortage. Last year, only 3% of vacant homes were brought back into use for families to live in.

“Local authorities need to work with the Mayor to build accommodation that reflects the needs of the Capital. London’s housing plan should not just be about hitting targets but about achieving real results for Londoners.”

The latest data on new homes in London shows little being done to turn around the city’s housing problem. Of conventional London homes built in 2006/07, just 11% had three bedrooms and 8% had four bedrooms.

Brian Paddick has proposed a raft of policy ideas to help increase the numbers of houses, especially in the rental sector. Firstly, money will be loaned to Housing Associations so they can increase their housing stock, thus enabling them to offer more homes to the most needy families whom they serve. Other plans include using compulsory purchase orders on empty homes and using government owned brownfield land to build new homes.

For Brian’s full housing manifesto click here.