Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of discounting children under the age of 1 when calculating overcrowding under the Housing Act 1985 on children's health.

The 2004 Housing Act places a duty on local authorities to take enforcement action if they identify an 'crowding and space' hazard at the most dangerous 'category 1' level, as assessed by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). The HHSRS operates by evaluating the potential risk of harm to any actual or potential occupier from their living environment. For crowding and space hazards, this includes children under the age of one.