Centre for London response to census housing data

Responding to the publication of new ONS 2021 census data on housing, Jon Tabbush, Senior Researcher at Centre for London said:

“Today’s census results confirm that London is at the heart of the nation’s housing crisis.

Due to its higher housing costs, the capital having a lower proportion of homeowners than any other region in England will come as no surprise.

But with a recession setting in this year, it is essential that the challenges Londoners on lower incomes face securing good-quality, affordable homes are not forgotten in wider conversations about inequality or levelling up.

It is especially concerning that more than 10 per cent of London households are currently living in unsuitable accommodation, with fewer bedrooms than their occupants require.

More than half of the city’s households live in flats or apartments. Too often this involves families living in cramped conditions, with significant impacts on quality of life – particularly for children.

And facing a long winter, London also has the largest number of households nationwide without central heating.

With greater dependence on the private rented sector than anywhere else in England & Wales, which has risen from housing 26 per cent to 30 per cent of London’s households since 2011, government action is needed to prevent housing costs pushing thousands into poverty.

Londoners need more stability for renters. It is vital that plans for the Renters’ Reform Bill are not dropped.

More broadly, the government should prioritise an increase in affordable homes in London and fully uprate benefits to meet the capital’s cost of living.

Our upcoming housing research programme will set out how to deliver the systemic change that London’s housing sector so urgently needs.”