If your accommodation is much too small for your household you may be considered to be living in overcrowded conditions under the law. Your home may be legally overcrowded if there are not enough rooms or space for the number of people who live there. There are currently two applicable standards in force, the Statutory Overcrowding standard under the Housing Act 1985 and the Crowding and Space Hazard, assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System HHSRS. If you would like further information on overcrowding you can contact the Housing Standards Team.

Statutory Overcrowding (Housing Act 1985)

Overcrowding can be caused by having too many people in a room or by the having too many poeple for the size of the room.

If two people of the opposite sex have to sleep in the same room the accommodation will be overcrowded unless the two people are:

• a married or cohabiting couple, or
• at least one occupant is under ten years old.

The number of people of the same sex (unless they are a same sex couple) who can sleep in one room is restricted by the size of the room.

The amount of space in each room

Rooms that are counted include living rooms, bedrooms and large kitchens. For the space and floor area calculations:

• children under one year old are ignored
• children under ten years old and over one count as a half
• rooms under 50 square feet are ignored.

As a general rule:

1 room = 2 people
2 rooms = 3 people
3 rooms = 5 people
4 rooms = 7.5 people
5 or more rooms = 2 people per room.

The floor area of a room also determines how many people can sleep in it:

• floor area 110 sq feet (10.2 sq metres approx) = 2 people
• floor area 90 - 109 sq ft (8.4 - 10.2 sq m approx) = 1.5 people
• floor area 70 - 89 sq ft (6.5 - 8.4 sq m approx) = 1 person
• floor area 50 - 69 sq ft (4.6 - 6.5 sq m approx) = 0.5 people.
  

Crowding and Space Hazard (HHSRS)

The HHSRS provides an additional tool for local authorities to tackle overcrowding.

Introduced in April 2006, the HHSRS assesses the deficiencies of a home in terms of the impact on the occupiers. Local authorities use the system to assess properties for 29 health and safety hazards, one of which is crowding and space. The HHSRS Operating Guidance  913Kb, outlines the ideal where, depending on the gender mix:

“a dwelling with one bedroom is suitable for up to two people regardless of age; two bedrooms for up to four people; three for up to six people; and four for up to seven people. Living rooms and kitchens are also considered. Whether a dwelling is actually overcrowded depends on the age and circumstances of the family in it.”

A dwelling may not match the ideal, but unless the hazard is a high-scoring Category I, the authority’s decision to act is discretionary.

If you think you or your family are living in overcrowded conditions, contact us and we will try to help you. We will, where possible, remedy 'statutory overcrowding' and may consider legal action in some cases.

For more information you can also visit Amentities and Space Guidance for Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Contact us

For more information on our services, or to contact us for advice about housing standards, please contact us using the details below, or by using the form at the bottom of this page:

Housing Standards Team,
Housing and Advice Services,
PO Box 6323,
Derby,
DE1 2WW

Telephone: 01332 255 160
Minicom: 01332 255 316
Email: Housing.Standards@derby.gov.uk.