Three in 10 flats, terraces and semi-detached Jewish homes considered overcrowded

Almost three in 10 flats, terraces and semi-detached Jewish homes in some areas of England are officially considered overcrowded, new figures show.

Some 2.8% of households in England where all members identified as Jewish have fewer bedrooms than required – a percentage that is well below the national average of 4.4%.

For other religions the figure is far greater with 8.8% for Sikh, 9.1% for Hindu and a significantly higher 22.5% for Muslim-only homes.

The data is the latest to be released from the census, which took place in England and Wales on March 21 2021.

It shows the proportion of flats considered overcrowded was highest in the London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham (22.7%), Newham (21.8%) and Redbridge (20.0%), along with Slough in Berkshire (20.8%).

There were 38 local authorities where at least one in 10 flats met the criteria for being overcrowded on the day of the census, 28 of which were in the capital and all in south-east England, except for Leicester (16.0%).

London boroughs also came first for overcrowding in terraced housing, with Newham (18.6%) and Barking & Dagenham (13.6%) recording the highest proportions.

But there is a greater spread of geographical areas at the top of this list, including Leicester (13.2%), Birmingham (11.9%), Oldham (10.6%) and Manchester (9.4%).

A household is classed as being overcrowded if it has fewer bedrooms than required, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which published the data.

To determine if a household has enough bedrooms, residents are divided into types, each of which should have their own room – for example, an adult couple, any other adult aged 21 or over, two males aged 10 to 20 (sharing), two females aged 10 to 20 (sharing) or two children aged nine and under.