Overcrowding
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
According to the Housing Act 1985, a dwelling is overcrowded when the number of persons sleeping in it contravenes the room standard or the space standard.
[edit] Room standard
The room standard is contravened when the number of persons sleeping in a dwelling and the number of rooms available as sleeping accommodation is such that two persons of opposite sexes who are not living together as husband and wife must sleep in the same room. Children under the age of ten shall be left out of account, and a room is available as sleeping accommodation if it is of a type normally used in the locality either as a bedroom or as a living room.
[edit] Space standard
The space standard is contravened when the number of persons sleeping in a dwelling is in excess of the permitted number, having regard to the number and floor area of the rooms of the dwelling available as sleeping accommodation.
The permitted number of persons in relation to a dwelling is whichever is the less of:
- The number specified in Table I in relation to the number of rooms in the dwelling available as sleeping accommodation, and
- The aggregate for all such rooms in the dwelling of the numbers specified in column 2 of Table II in relation to each room of the floor area specified in column 1
Table I
| NUMBER OF ROOMS | NUMBER OF PERSONS |
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 7½ |
| 5 or more | 2 for each room |
Table II
| FLOOR AREA OF ROOM | UMBER OF PERSONS |
| 110 sq. ft. or more | 2 |
| 90 sq. ft. or more but less than 110 sq.ft. | 1½ |
| 70 sq. ft. or more but less than 90 sq. ft. | 1 |
| 50 sq. ft. or more but less than 70 sq. ft. | ½ |
No account shall be taken for the purposes of either Table of a room having a floor area of less than 50 sq. ft.
NB English Housing Survey, Headline Report, 2020-21, published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in 2021, states: ‘Households are said to be overcrowded if they have fewer bedrooms available than the notional number needed according to the bedroom standard definition. See bedroom standard.’
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
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- Draft housing standards.
- Draft London Housing Strategy (blog November 2013).
- GLA Housing Design SPG.
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- Laying the foundations: a housing strategy for England.
- Micro flats.
- Minimum room size.
- Minimum space standards.
- NHBC technical standards.
- Technical housing standards – nationally described space standard.
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