Tottenham councillor speaks out over 'severe' and 'massive' overcrowding

The Labour member said Haringey Council had made “tangible progress” in recent years but the problem was still “serious”, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Tottenham Central councillor Isidoros Diakides (credit Haringey Labour)

A Labour councillor has said he’s seen residents “cry” due to the borough’s “severe” overcrowding issue.

Tottenham Central councillor Isidoros Diakides said the problem had been raised with him by constituents who lived with their families, which often included children, in one-bedroom flats.

He prefaced his concerns with an acknowledgement that Haringey Council had made some “tangible progress” in recent years but said the problem was still “serious”.

Raising his concerns at a housing, planning and development scrutiny panel on Monday (23rd), he said: “I’ve seen grown men in tears in front of me and that kind of thing, it is tragic sometimes, it affects children, and I do think we’re not actually getting there [hitting targets] with that one.”

The council’s cabinet member for housing, Sarah Williams, said: “Overcrowding is a huge issue, it is a massive issue and it’s a reflection of the housing crisis.

“Let’s not underestimate, building council houses at this scale is massive, and the impact those new homes are going to have on people who are living in overcrowded housing and therefore towards the top of our list for a move is going to be significant and we’ve already seen it happen.

“We’re building a lot of four-bedroom and three-bedroom homes, a lot of the severe overcrowding is where people are living with families in one-bedroom accommodation.”

Cllr Williams added grown men and women living at home with their parents due to not being able to afford to move out was also contributing to the problem.

Cllr Diakides said delays to building repairs on council estates was another issue, with some residents waiting “years” to see a conclusion.

He highlighted Turner Avenue, a council estate in Tottenham, as an example where there has been ongoing work to improve the estate and build new council homes on the site.

Director of housing at the council, Jahedur Rahman, said: “In terms of the investment work in Turner Avenue, we were working with a contractor that subsequently went bankrupt.

“It was a particular contractor that started the renovation work but then went bankrupt so as part of picking up that piece of work, we’re now having to reprocure the incomplete work.”

Jahedur said he was happy to say that i,n September, the team was due to get permission from the cabinet to procure a new contractor.

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