26–year-old Crawley, West Sussex, mom Shannan Moore just got hit with some particularly bad news. Her expected wait time for social housing would be over eight years. Moore’s family has quadruplets, all under the age of 10, including two with special educational needs. They now live in temporary housing, sharing a single room. Their violent and unsanitary living conditions have seriously affected their education, physical health, and Moore’s mental health.
Moore’s plight is not an isolated case. UK families are in the same situation as Charlotte—unable to find anything appropriate to rent or sell. For 48-year-old Domonic Bradshaw from Ashford, Surrey, the wait has been particularly agonizing. Henry has been applying for a council house or housing association unit for the last six years. As he is unable to work because of his disability, he depends on support from his local authorities. Getting that support has been extremely difficult for him to access.
Moore and Bradshaw are just two of the hundreds of people on the housing register in their local areas. Sadly, they’re facing enormous backlogs in the administration’s process. Digging further into the detail, we find that Swale Borough Council currently has more than 2,000 applications on its housing register. Only about 40 family-sized council homes come up each year. This sad truth underscores the dangerous Catch-22 that families with children face in finding safe, stable homes.
Moore highlighted her anger at what had happened to her and the lack of alternatives offered to her. She stated, “I’ve lost hope in getting a council house.” Private renting would not be a realistic option for her. Her family’s choice on bedroom size. She raised that family-sized properties are simply unaffordable and that high childcare costs prevent her from working.
Beyond her challenges, while bouncing from one-income, one-bedroom flat, to hotels, and back again, Shanaya Wood experienced extreme adversity. Wood recounted having to sleep on a mattress laid on the living room floor throughout her pregnancy. She illustrated just how extensive and problematic the issue of space can be. The flat posed health dangers, as mould infested her two-month-old baby’s crib and car seat.
“They shove you somewhere and hope that you don’t complain,” – Shanaya Wood
The emotional impact of substandard housing can be heard in Moore’s voice. She expressed concern for her children’s wellbeing, stating, “Children, who are the most innocent and vulnerable, are [being] affected because there is no housing.” The ongoing uncertainty leaves her feeling scared about the future: “I’m so scared I’m going to be stuck here.”
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has recognized the ongoing crisis and announced initiatives aimed at addressing the housing shortfall. A spokesperson highlighted the government’s commitment to “the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation backed by a £39 bn investment” and “sweeping measures stripping away barriers for councils to build at a scale not seen in years.”
Even with these announcements, Mairi MacRae of the charity Shelter has said it’s not enough and questioned how effective such measures will actually be. She remarked, “For too long, we’ve been haemorrhaging our stock of social homes by selling off the little we have and not building anywhere near enough.” The consequences are dire. She added, “Thousands of families are stuck in grim temporary accommodation as a result.”
Kingston Council’s treatment of Bradshaw is unfortunately symptomatic of a larger trend, where local housing authorities have become increasingly inaccessible and unresponsive to local needs. He added that communication back and forth with the council’s staff is frequently infrequent and last-minute. “It’s impossible to be optimistic now I think about how long I have waited [for a social house],” he said.
Families such as Moore’s and Bradshaw’s are caught in the labyrinth of our troubled housing system. We need to do it now, and we need to ease the burdens on the truly needy.
