Tens of thousands of families stuck on housing waiting lists as housing crisis spirals

Almost 40,000 households are stuck on the social housing waiting list in Lambeth, as the capital’s social housing crisis reaches a 10-year high.

Analysis of government data by London Councils shows there were 336, 366 households on London’s local authority waiting lists for social housing in 2024 – the highest figure in more than a decade.

Lambeth had the second longest waiting list in London, with 38, 131 households, behind Newham, with 38,417.

Liz Wyatt, member of campaign group Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) said: “Children are growing up and spending most of their lives in slum-like conditions in temporary accommodation. 

“Yet these statistics are still an underestimate. So many people at the worst end of the housing crisis simply do not know of their rights to join the housing waiting list or have the IT or language skills to complete the application form.”

Anna, who asked not to give her real name, is a domestic abuse survivor. 

The single mother and her one-year-old daughter have been homeless since 2021. For the past four years they have been moved between five temporary accommodations by Lambeth council after making four successful suitability reviews.

Anna said: “Everywhere has been too small and full of mould.

“My daughter has not been able to develop properly. It affects how she can grow and play. It is inhumane.”

Anna and her daughter have been moved between Lambeth, Croydon and Lewisham, uprooted miles from their support networks.

Anna said: “I feel very alone and insecure.

“It is not possible to find stability. I cannot find a nursery for my daughter and each time I apply for a job I move again and have to start over.”

Cllr Danny Adilypour, Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Investment and New Homes said:  “We’re dealing with the catastrophic effects of spiralling demand for homes and an acute shortage of suitable accommodation.

“Lambeth is now providing temporary accommodation for over 4,700 homeless households every night, and the cost of housing homeless families has risen to more than £100million a year.”

Lambeth council is one of 76 ‘stockholding’ councils across the country involved in a survey published by Southwark council last week.

The survey found nine in 10 council housing budgets are under financial stress, causing 61 per cent of councils to have cancelled, paused or delayed housebuilding projects.

Councillor Kieron Williams, Leader of Southwark council, said: “The government’s ambition to build 1.5million new homes is critical to ending the housing crisis. However, without significant further action councils will be unable to build at scale or bring existing homes up to decent standards.”

The shortage of available social housing has left many families living in uninhabitable conditions.

Shirley Saravia, 40, has lived in a one-bedroom private rental flat in Nutcroft Road, Peckham with her husband, mother and three children since 2018.

Unable to afford another private property, the severe overcrowding means the family have the highest priority band on Southwark council’s housing waiting list. But they have not received an offer in five years.

Ms Saravia said: “I feel guilty for not being able to buy decent beds for my children.”

Ms Saravia’s five-year-old son sleeps in a crib, while her two daughters, aged 11 and 17, sleep on the sofa. There is no space for furniture so the family keep their clothes in suitcases.

Ms Saravia said: “We have been through many family problems.

“The children need to study but my mother needs rest due to health issues and it is hard to keep the children quiet.”

London Councils said that the capital is facing a “homelessness emergency” and warned that across London, spending on temporary accommodation has reached £4million a day, having risen by 68 per cent in a year. 

The cross party group called for an increase in the amount councils can claim from the government for temporary accommodation costs, and for the recent rise in Local Housing Allowance rates to be made a permanent measure.

Cllr Adilypour said: “Giving councils control over how it operates in their own area – assisting, rather than hindering the fight against the housing crisis – is a vital next step.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been approached for comment.

Pictured top: Shirley Saravia, her mother and three children in their Peckham home (Picture: Shirley Saravia)