HC Deb 07 November 2002 vol 392 cc632-3W
Ms Oona King

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what legislation is in force relating to overcrowding standards in housing; and when each provision came into force. [80092]

Mr. McNulty

The current overcrowding standards are set out in Part X of the Housing Act 1985. The Room Standard is breached if two people of opposite sexes who are not living together as husband and wife must sleep in the same room. The Space Standard specifies the number of people who may sleep in a dwelling according to the number of rooms and their floor area. Both standards must be met. The 1985 Act is a consolidating Act. The standards were carried forward from the Housing Act 1957, which itself consolidates those which had originated in the Housing Act 1935.

In respect of houses in multiple occupation, local authorities also have powers under section 358 of the 1985 Act to serve an overcrowding notice where they are satisfied that there are, or there may become, an excessive number of people living in a property having regard to the number of rooms available. Such notice must specify the number of people who can occupy the property. Contravention of the notice is a criminal offence.

Ms Oona King

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 22 October 2002,Official Report, column 284W, on overcrowding, if it is his policy (a) to end the practice of counting living rooms as rooms available to sleep in, (b) to end the practice of not counting babies under the age of one and (c) to lower the age at which males and females should no longer be expected to have to sleep in the same room for the purposes of determining overcrowding. [80093]

Mr. McNulty

We are considering whether overcrowding is best tackled through a modern set of standards—updating the—present legislative framework—or through the new Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which we hope to introduce as a replacement for the housing fitness standard when Parliamentary time allows. It will be possible to assess and tackle hazards from crowding and space under HHSRS, but we would need to be satisfied that the problem is one that can be dealt with through this process alone.