The Observer
25.08.19 51Personal space is a
political issue. Analysing data
from the English Housing Survey ,
supplemented by a Comres poll of
families in overcrowded housing,
the National Housing Federation
(NHF) reports that 130,000 families
are living in one-bedroom homes.
An estimated 1.3 million children
live in overcrowded homes, defi ned
as children sleeping in the same
room as two or more siblings,
their parents or a teenager of the
opposite sex.
Just 6,000 homes were built
in 2018 for social rent , despite
at least 145,000 being needed.
Some children are sleeping three
to a bed, with adults sleeping in
kitchens, halls and bathrooms to
free up space. There are 96,000
more children living like this than
a decade ago. An estimated 92,000
children are thought to be sofa-
surfi ng with their families and not
even registering in the fi gures.
In some areas, emergency
accommodation, made from
shipping containers , has been
erected in response to the housing
crisis and homelessness. In my time,
I’ve lived in everything from council
housing to squats to a caravan in
someone’s front garden, but there’s
something disturbing about these
converted containers. They actually
look quite groovy – you can see why
they’d be considered a step up from
squalid bed and breakfasts – but
my fi rst thought was that they must
overheat in the summer.
It seems they do: tenants say
they’re unable to breathe during
heatwaves and some resort to
sleeping on the walkways with
their children. There’s no wifi for
job hunting or benefi t claims.
And although they’re classed as
emergency accommodation, people
end up feeling “dumped” there. It
goes without saying that they’re tinyand cramped, with barely any room
for belongings.
Labour’s shadow housing
secretary, John Healey , made the
point that the country is building
30,000 fewer social rented homes a
year than in 2010, with more than
a million households on waiting
lists. The NHF’s chief executive,
Kate Henderson , says that the only
solution is a radical public spending
programme (£12.8bn) to build more
social housing.
Families are jammed in like
sardines, having to work out how
and where to sleep, with stress and
mental health issues for adults and
children. It would be interestingBarbara
Ellen
How can children thrive when they
are squeezed into cramped homes?
to know what proportion of the
children celebrating great GCSE
results last week lived in one-
bedroom fl ats, bed and breakfasts,
shipping containers or converted
offi ce blocks.
Under such conditions, it’s not
even a debate about how families
are living – they are merely existing.
Maybe that’s what’s so disturbing
about measures such as the
converted shipping containers.
They may work as an emergency
fi x, but not if people get stuck there.
Then they become exposed for what
they are – nothing short of British
shanty towns, with whole families
crammed into tin boxes.Shipping containers
meant as a quick fi x
for the housing crisis
have become a trap
Rod Stewart
wears it well
with extended
ex-wives club
For Jade Goody,
reality TV
was her best
escape route
There’s a rather
charming photograph of Rod Stewart
at his daughter Kimberly’s birthday
party, hanging out with four of the
fi ve mothers of his children – Alana
Stewart , Rachel Hunte r, Kelly Emberg
and his wife, Penny Lancaster.
Stewart is plonked in the middle ,
wearing a gold-embossed waistcoatSpeaking to programme-
makers at the Edinburgh TV festival,
the presenter Jeff Brazier wondered if
the new duty of care regulations for
reality TV meant that someone such
as Jade Goody, his former partner
and mother of his children, would
now make it on to the shows.
The three-part Channel 4
documentary Jade: The Reality Star
Who Changed Britain has been
harrowing viewing. While Goody
was prepared to live on camera, she
couldn’t have envisaged practically
dying on it too, though in her
defence, she was trying to raise
money for her children to the end.
As for the idea of vulnerable
characters such as Goody not making
it through the audition process, I’m
not so sure. She was bubbly and
outgoing, rather than introverted
and nervous. Her troubled family
background was probably not
that different from many young
viewers, meaning she’d still be highly
“relatable”. Nor did Goody fracture
under the pressure of “normal”
fame – the Celebrity Big Brother race
row and her terminal cancer were
exceptional circumstances.
It’s time that reality TV put its
house in order – the people they
feature deserve more than to be
treated like televisual cannon
fodder. However, Goody didn’t slip
through the net – she jumped into
the net, seeing it as the best chance
she’d ever get. Despite how it all
ended, she was right.and leopardskin shoes, for all his
millions, resembling a bingo caller
on a budget ferry. To his credit, he
isn’t looking even slightly terrifi ed
that the women are about to go off in
a huddle to “compare and contrast”.
He says he’s proud to be on friendly
terms with them and so he should
be , considering the black holes many
former couples fall down after a split.
Four out of fi ve amicable serious
exes is impressive ( though the fi fth,
who had to give up the baby for
adoption, remains estranged ). Couldhe have beaten Chris Martin and
Gwyneth Paltrow to be the greatest
of all “conscious- uncouplers” – or
was he just before his time?
Time was, splitting (without kids)
was simple. You had an unseemly
row, momentarily forgetting to be
your best selves , stuck pins in voodoo
effi gies for a bit, then forgot about
them. Forever! It was ugly, it verged
on Sicilian (“You’re dead to me!”)
but at least it was simple. Modern
couples are supposed to be hyper-
mindful of complex post-coupleconsequences, not least the impact
a bitter split could have on their
increasingly vital social circles. Thus,
the post-relationship friendship has
become a “thing”.
In Stewart’s case, there’s the more
obvious glue of children. He’s also
rich, so the fi nancial pressure is off,
though Rod, bless him, is reputed
to be tighter than a sealed pistachio.
Still, it’s an achievement for all
concerned that they’ve remained on
good terms – and for him to have
the sense to be proud of that.Comment & Analysis
A shipping
container that
is now home to
a family of three
in west London.
Photograph by
Stefan Rousseau/
PA