Westminster needs more social housing

Experts warn that 50,000 overcrowded houses in London will shown no signs of decreasing in number unless the council has more control over district budgets.

The Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) said that planning applications and rules made strangle the councils ability to build more social housing, Westminster City Council's answer to overcrowding in its borough.

The Government also reacted to the report saying that they have made extensive plans to "overhaul the councils housing abilities" and the temporary accommodation targets were also being abolished in favour for council housing reforms.

The LGIU insists that councils will be in a better position to tackle the 2.65 million people who could be living in overcrowded conditions by 2011 if they had more control over their own budgets. Westminster Council is also keen to see a greater flexibility on council's part to borrow money in order to develop more social housing.

Overcrowding has been found to increase heath problems and stress levels whereas the legal definition of two people sharing a room of the opposite sex who are not a couple has also been linked to family breakdown and educational un-achievement.

All these factors seem to suggest that overcrowding is a real problem which could be tackled a lot more effectively if council's were allowed to build more properties where needed for social housing.

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September 09^th 2009

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