“In London, 1 in 21 children are homeless or live in temporary accommodation,” said Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor of London for Housing. “That is one child in every London classroom.” But why? Because families are being evicted by landlords, either for not being able to pay their substantially high rents or, even worse, for no reason at all.
Private rents in Hillingdon rose to an average of £1,507 in January 2025, an annual increase of 10.2% from £1,367 in January 2024. The soaring price of rent in Hayes should not be ignored, especially as issues like this lead to overcrowding in two-bedroom homes. In the Hayes Housing Crisis Meeting, Miss Momina, who supports families facing housing troubles, noted that “Families have about five to six people [sleeping] in one bedroom, including elderly people who cannot access the toilet in their own home.” This is a pressing concern that calls for attention, because overcrowding impacts not only the quality of housing but also the quality of life. The fact that elderly and disabled people cannot access basic facilities, like the toilet, further proves that the high costs of housing and rent are having devastating effects on individual lives. There must be a halt to landlord greed.
Hayes is a working-class area, home to one of the most hard-working, diverse communities in all of London. Raising the price of rent while families struggle to pay means that money will be taken away from other essential areas of life, such as food, clothing, and medicine. Lower-income families who rely on Universal Credit and child benefits have no choice but to use that money required for their children to keep a roof over their heads, and, in turn, the future of our generation suffers too. “Children are malnourished in one of the richest countries in the world,” Tom Copley explained.
As the children of London starve, landlords satisfy their greed, raising rents beyond what families can afford and forcing them into overcrowded, unsafe conditions. Our new government needs to find a way to stop this inhumanity from happening and pay attention to the plight of the working class, as they are the backbone of society. Housing is a human right, not a privilege.