Oldham’s houses are more overcrowded than they were a decade ago, according to data released from the 2021 Census last week.

A total of 6,995 Oldham households (7.5 per cent) were overcrowded according to the 2021 census, up from 5,954 (6.6 per cent) in 2011.

Areas surrounding the town centre are worst affected – with nearly three in 10 households in the Alexandra Park area said to be overcrowded.

Oldham bucks the nationwide trend – which has seen the proportion of overcrowded households in England decrease from 4.6 per cent to 4.4 per cent since 2011.

Only one Greater Manchester borough has a higher proportion of overcrowded households than Oldham: Manchester itself, at 7.9 per cent.

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The Office for National Statistics calculates whether homes have enough bedrooms based on the ‘Bedroom Standard’.

Generally, most people should have their own bedroom, though some exceptions are made – such as sharing between couples.

Pairs of children under 16 can also generally share – though if they are of a different sex, they should have their own room from the age of 10.

The Office for National Statistics then assigns a rating to households.

A rating of 0 means a household has just the right number of bedrooms.

A negative number means a household has fewer bedrooms than required, while a positive number means it has more bedrooms than required by the standard.

This could be a spare room, or it could be that two children who are young enough to share each have their own room, as well as other reasons.

Aside from the Alexandra Park area, other areas surrounding the town centre were highly affected, with 25.3 per cent of Busk households said to be overcrowded alongside 20.6 per cent of Werneth households.

More rural areas of the borough were less affected, with just 1.1 per cent of Diggle, Delph & Denshaw households overcrowded.

In North West, the proportion of overcrowded households has fallen slightly – from 3.6 per cent in 2011, to 3.3 per cent in 2021.

Under-occupied households

New Delph, Dobcross & Austerlands, Middleton Junction, and Royton North were the areas with the highest proportion of ‘under-occupied’ households – with more bedrooms than required by the standard.

More than 80 per cent of households in these areas had a +1 or more occupancy rating.

Oldham Town North had the lowest proportion of under-occupied households, at just 35 per cent.

Council leader responds

Councillor Amanda Chadderton, leader of Oldham Council, said: “As the demand for new homes increases, we are not alone in the problems created by this ongoing national housing crisis.

“Planning obviously plays an important role in how we can deliver these much-needed homes for our residents, but it doesn’t help our situation when Government decides to water down its requirements for developers to provide affordable homes, which is sadly pricing people out of the larger properties they require.

“We will not stand by and wait for them to act though because we are doing everything we can, as part of our latest Housing Delivery Plan, to boost and improve housing across the borough.

“This includes leading the way in getting up to 3,000 much-needed new homes built on more than 20 council-owned sites across Oldham, with our key focus being on unlocking key brownfield sites such as Southlink and Derker to provide new homes in partnership with local developers.

“We aim to provide a diverse housing offer that meets the needs of people at different times in their lives and we will champion affordable homes that are carbon efficient to support the environment and the increased costs of living.

“We will do everything in our power to give people the homes they need so they have the best possible chance to get on in life.”

Government responds

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “It’s unacceptable for anyone to be living in an overcrowded home and councils should prioritise finding people living in these conditions somewhere fit for purpose. 

“To ease pressures, we are increasing the supply of affordable housing. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country.”