The government has rejected calls to update the definition of overcrowding despite strong support for a petition on the Number 10 website. More than 2,500 people signed the online petition set up by housing charity Shelter, calling for a new standard to ‘reflect modern expectations of space and privacy’. The government has responded, saying it is ‘committed to tackling overcrowding’ but must ‘ensure that we have the right processes in place to support overcrowded households’ before making any changes to statutory standards. The legal definition of overcrowding in England has remained unchanged since 1935, and counts children under 10 as half a person, and living rooms and large kitchens as acceptable places to sleep. CLG figures showed there were 654,000 overcrowded households in England in 2008/09, which Shelter says is the highest level for over 14 years. Read more on the Inside Housing website.
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