Data scientists in the Clinical Effectiveness Group (CEG), Queen Mary University of London, have estimated inequalities in household overcrowding in North East London. In some areas, over 70% of families have less than 16.6m2 per person, which is little more than a parking space.

The analysis, published in the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS), found that household overcrowding affects almost half (46%) of families with children in North East London. In some neighbourhoods in Tower Hamlets, Newham, Havering, and Barking & Dagenham, 70-79% of households with children are living with fewer than 16.6m2 per person.

The research team analysed information from the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) register, which provides the floor space of each property, and linked this with de-identified data from GP health records, which indicate how many people are registered as living at the address.

It revealed that homes were over five times more likely to be overcrowded, and had an average of 22 square metres per person less, if the household included children. This was more marked if the property was privately rented rather than owner occupied, and if the oldest household member was from a South Asian or Black ethnic group rather than from a White ethnic group.

Living in close proximity to others with limited space increases the transmission of infections and the risk of condensation, damp and mould. It also restricts residents’ privacy, and space for children to play or do their homework. Research has shown that children living in overcrowded households are more likely to suffer behavioural problems and have poorer educational attainment.

Most analyses of household overcrowding use the ‘bedroom standard’, which calculates the number of bedrooms required depending on the ages and relationships of the occupants, and estimates are usually based on data from surveys. Using the ‘bedroom standard’ recognises issues of privacy, but it does not consider the overall space within a property, which has more influence over work and play and the risk of condensation.

The Queen Mary research demonstrates the viability of a ‘space standard’ calculated using a novel method that links health and property data while keeping identifiable information hidden from researchers, instead of the current ‘bedroom standard’.

The de-identified data linkage method also enables future research into the impacts of household overcrowding on people’s health.

Marta Wilk, lead author and health data scientist at Queen Mary, said,Using de-identified demographic and health data of people sharing households, linked to information about the physical characteristics of the places where they live, enables much needed future research to address gaps in our understanding of the health outcomes of overcrowding and poor housing conditions.”

Carol Dezateux, co-author and professor of epidemiology and health data science at Queen Mary, added, Our research has highlighted the inequalities in access to space experienced by households with children. Understanding how this impacts on the health, education and social activities of children will help inform policies to mitigate the effects of overcrowding.”

 

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Marta Wilk, [Mrs], Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, UK

 

This work was funded by Barts Charity (MGU0419 and MGU0504). It was also supported by ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK), an Economic and Social Research Council investment, part of UK Research and Innovation (Grant number: ES/X00046X/1).

More information

Wilk, M., Harper, G., Liverani, S., Firman, N., Simon, P. and Dezateux, C. 2025 “Inequalities in household overcrowding in an ethnically diverse urban population: a cross-sectional study using linked health and housing records”, International Journal of Population Data Science, 10(2). doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v10i2.2408.