Shelter report about overcrowding: need your thoughts asap please!

Wouldn't want to plan for children of different gender to share a room. OK for convenience of family or if children choose to share but would still need house to have enough rooms for children to have their own bedroom. Am appalled that 1935 criteria are still applied to definition of overcrowding.

our HA state that bathrooms and landings can all be used as sleeping space! not quite sure how i'd fit a mattress in my bathroom....i draw the line at that

I think the definition seems a bit irrelevant - you hear of families being hugely overcrowded, way over the definition, but the council won't/can't rehouse them into a bigger house unless that does fit the definition.

E.g. 10 people living in 2 rooms, council only have 4-room housing available and according to the definition the family need a 5-room house, so they can't be moved even though the 4-room house would be better than where they currently are. I don't have personal experience of this though so I'm not sure whether it's an exaggeration of the situation.

Also it seems irrelevant because I assume it only refers to tenants in social housing, it isn't going to affect families with a mortgage. If a family has a mortgage but can only afford a house defined as "overcrowded", what help is available to them? What options do they have?

Ok thoughts

1. I find it interesting that social housing has rules for this yet private housing has no such thing

2. Don't understand why babies/children don't count as whole people

3. How different it is here. Have been abroad recently to a postwartorn country and families still shre. children in kitchens etc and they're halthy and happy and just thankful to have a roof over their heads

I guess I'm most comfortable in mixed genders sharing up until puberty but it does depend on the individual cases, how young younger child is etc and whether the people are nuclear family members.

Hope this is the ikind of thing you wanted

i'm on our HA's list for a bigger house,but to be honest i'm happy enough as we are

5 children and myself in a small-ish 3 bed house.

older two are girls and now teenagers. i'm strict with keeping place tidy,so never ever looks a mess.

3 boys are moving into my room shortly and i'll happily move into the box room.....but considering taking the sofa bed and letting eldest have her own room.....sacrifices!!

i think you need to be prepared to be flexible and respect each others privacy and belongings.

biggest problem i have is a computer available for all kids at homework time,as we have to stagger it