Bad Housing in the UK

The housing charity Shelter claims that one in seven children in the UK are growing up homeless or in “bad” housing. The analysis is published in its report Against the Odds .

Shelter further says that 1.6 million youngsters in Britain are living in housing judged to be temporary, overcrowded or unfit.

The charity, which is marking its 40th anniversary, described the situation as a “scandal” and is calling on the chancellor to commit to funding 20,000 extra social homes each year to give these children a fair start in life.

Shelter was set up 40 years ago shortly after the drama-documentary Cathy Come Home, which is being marked by the BBC with its No Home season of programming.

It is believed that living in poor housing had a significantly detrimental impact on children’s lives. Furthermore it is claimed that children in bad housing were twice as likely to underachieve at school. Shelter advise that more than 40,000 young people aged 16 to 18 who lived in poor accommodation in England had no GCSEs. Each year, more than 57,000 children living in bad housing in Britain are excluded from school.

Also almost 310,000 children living in bad housing in Britain were suffering long-term illness or disability they also were twice as likely to be persistently bullied and had almost double the chance of suffering from poor health.