In response to new Government figures revealing that 1,615 households in Barking and Dagenham were recorded as living in temporary accommodation between April and June 2019, including a total of 3,504 children, local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, said:
“It is terrible to think of so many local families waking up on Christmas Day in unsuitable, and in some cases, unsafe living conditions.
“This is an often-overlooked scandal that has been perpetuated by decades of failure to hit housing supply targets. We simply cannot allow children in our community to remain trapped in unsuitable accommodation, often with no space to learn or play.
“Under Sadiq Khan, City Hall is making a difference by directly funding the development of new council homes for the first time. But the overall number of council homes in London continues to fall because the Government refuses to end Right to Buy.
“The Government has an opportunity to turn this around by ending the Right to Buy and devolving the funding and the powers for the Mayor to go even further. The scrapping of no fault evictions, and the introduction of open-ended tenancies, would also make life in the private rented sector far more stable for millions of people”.
Notes to editors
- Unmesh Desai AM is the London Assembly Member for City and East (covering Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and the City of London).