Wandsworth Council expects families to sleep in their living rooms in brand new homes planned for the Alton Estate, a shocking email exchange has revealed.
Council bosses have defended plans to build two-bedroom flats for four people – meaning families will have to use their living room as a bedroom.
In an email to a concerned resident, the council’s Director of Housing Development, Joe Richardson, suggested this would actually be an improvement for families “living in a one bedroom property, with the parents having to make use of the living room as a second bedroom.”
Local resident Antony Arthur had been pressing for answers about the size of new homes in plans that Alton Estate residents are voting on right now. The ballot closes on 16 October. Mr Arthur called the council’s response “absolutely ridiculous.”
Mr Arthur had written to Richardson asking: “If a two bedroom home is for four people can you explain how this helps if you have a boy or girl of a certain age.” Richardson admitted in his reply that families with a boy and girl of a certain age “simply would not be offered them” – but insisted other families would benefit from the new properties.
“There are plenty of families for whom this would not be the situation and the new properties could offer a welcome change to their situations,” Richardson wrote.
Mr Arthur had also questioned why there are “so many one bedroom units in the proposal” and whether this truly meets the needs of the community.
He challenged the council’s claims of proper community consultation, pointing out that block parties coincided with existing community events like Roehampton Community Week and asking how many people actually attended official meetings. “We are concerned about what you are doing to the estate we live on,” he noted.
The council’s Director of Housing Development responded that the proposed unit mix is “in line with the current Local Plan” and that the council is providing “a strong weight towards family sized homes, which do include two bedroom four person homes.”
Slum standards in new builds
Critics say brand new homes in 2025 should not be designed to force families to sleep in living rooms – a practice that belongs to the overcrowded slums of the past, not modern housing developments.
The revelation comes as the council pushes forward with its 1,000 homes programme across the borough. For residents of the Alton estate, the admission raises fundamental questions about whether the regeneration plans prioritise the needs of existing communities or simply increase housing numbers regardless of living standards.
The suggestion that using living rooms as bedrooms represents an acceptable housing standard – particularly in new-build properties – undermines council claims that its new plans will exceed, not merely match, the inadequate conditions some families currently endure.
Wandsworth Council was contacted for comment and did not respond.
