Overcrowding: School doesn't understand why I fall asleep in class
- Published
Over lockdown, Ridwan Hossain "grew like a giraffe" - from 5ft 5in to 6ft 1in, in months.
Now, he is too tall for his old bed - and as his room is too small for a bigger one, sleeps on the sofa, in the two-bedroom flat he shares with his parents and two sisters.
"I barely get six hours' sleep," the 16-year-old says.
"The school don't understand. I fall asleep in classes but if I fall asleep on three occasions, I get suspended."
Sharing a bed
Ridwan is one of an estimated two million children in England in unsuitable or overcrowded accommodation.
His sisters, Mayesha, 13, and Maliha, 11, share a double bed.
"The house is chaotic and crowded," Mayesha says.
"There is always someone in the room.
"And Ridwan is always complaining that he never gets the bed."
The family are trying to find somewhere else to live
Housing register
The family, based in Royal Oak, west London, have been trying to move since 2013.
At 6am every Wednesday, mum Husnara, who is studying childcare, goes on to Westminster council's housing register to see if a bigger home has become available.
"I've been 125th, 86th, 105th on the list but never got anything," she says.
"All these new houses keep being built but where are they going - who's getting them?"
Cramped home
Adding to the stress, dad Mohammed, a taxi driver, had a heart attack in February and can no longer work.
He is recovering, but living in a stressful and cramped home doesn't help.
Ridwan says he'd move hundreds of miles to get more space
At one point, the family even considered moving to West Yorkshire, after Husnara found a family willing to swap.
"I said, 'Whatever option you get, we need to take it,'" Ridwan says.
"I know it's 200 miles away - but I just couldn't keep lying in that little bed."
Unfortunately, the swap fell through and the family find themselves "with no options at the moment", Husnara says.
"It's stressful, with arguments all the time," she says.
"I was born and brought up in this area but I will move anywhere - anywhere at all".
Causing anxiety
The National Housing Federation, which represents England's housing associations, calculates almost two million children in England - about one in five - live in overcrowded, unsuitable or unaffordable homes.
Of those, 1.1 million are said to be living in cramped conditions, which, the federation says, can have a detrimental impact on their health and development, causing anxiety and depression.
The research, by Herriot-Watt University, also found while children made up 19% of the population in England, they accounted for 30% of those in need of social housing.
"Today's report shows that our children are fast becoming the biggest victims of a broken housing market," NHF chief executive Kate Henderson says.
"It is nothing short of tragic that so many children are forced to live in cramped conditions, sharing bedrooms and sometimes beds with parents and siblings, whilst their families struggle to cover the costs of their food, clothes and shelter.
"By not providing the homes these families can afford to live in, we are depriving millions of children of a decent chance in life."
A government spokesperson said: "All children deserve to live in a safe and decent home - and we're strengthening councils' enforcement powers to tackle overcrowding and reduce social-housing waiting lists, which have fallen by over 550,000 households between 2010 and 2021."
The government has pledged £11.5bn investment in affordable homes over the next five years.