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More than one in 10 flats, terraces and semi-detached homes in some areas of England are officially considered overcrowded, with the proportion rising to at least one in five in parts of London, new figures show.
PA media reports:
There are also sharp contrasts in levels of overcrowding across different religious and ethnic groups, which may reflect differences in age and background among households.
The data is the latest to be released from the census, which took place in England and Wales on 21 March 2021.
It shows the proportion of flats considered overcrowded was highest in the London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham (22.7%), Newham (21.8%) and Redbridge (20.0%), along with Slough in Berkshire (20.8%).
There were 38 local authorities where at least one in 10 flats met the criteria for being overcrowded on the day of the census, 28 of which were in the capital and all in south-east England, except for Leicester (16.0%).
London boroughs also came first for overcrowding in terraced housing, with Newham (18.6%) and Barking & Dagenham (13.6%) recording the highest proportions.
17m ago08.30 EDTFall in energy price cap will offer little comfort to many households across Scotland, minister warns
The reduction in the energy price cap will bring little comfort to thousands of households in Scotland who will still face “significant hardship”, Holyrood’s energy secretary has said.
Neil Gray was speaking after the regulator Ofgem announced its new cap on gas and electricity would reduce the average annual bill from £2,074 to to £1,923, from 1 October.
The average bill for customers with a prepayment meter should fall to £1,949 a year – with these figures based on the estimate that a typical household uses 2,900 units of electricity and 12,000 units of gas.
However, experts say the reduction in support from the UK government, together with a small increase in standing charges, means many households could pay more than they did last winter when the price cap was higher.
Gray said average energy bills will still be “nearly twice what they were two years ago”.
The energy secretary said:
This small reduction will be of little comfort to the many thousands of households who continue to face…
2023-08-25 07:32:34
Original from www.theguardian.com
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