‘Rat bites and chronic asthma’: schools on frontline of UK housing crisis

Some children living in dire housing conditions have been woken up by chesty coughs caused by damp, others by the smell of sewage leaking down their walls.

Nationally, 142,000 homeless children are living in places like commercial hotels, converted offices and dingy hostels, an all-time high, after rents and no-fault evictions have soared across the country.

Last week, a National Education Union survey found that 59% of teachers in England and Wales had seen their students experience frequent ill health due to poverty, with housing a major factor.

Photograph: Andy Hall/The ObserverSouthwark council said they were made aware of the issues at the home in Crofton Park in February and agreed that the family should be moved after visiting the property.

A Lewisham council spokesperson said: “We expect our temporary housing, whether managed directly by us or leased from the private sector, to be properly maintained, and we apologise to the families we have let down in these cases.

“Lewisham council is buying back and building new social homes in the borough as well as making substantial and ongoing investment in maintaining and improving our existing housing stock.