Episode 4

Almost two million households in the UK are waiting for a council house but, with a severe social housing shortage, more and more people on low incomes have to find a home in the private sector. In London demand is high, rents are spiralling and some landlords are taking advantage. More and more people are living in substandard conditions in houses of multiple occupancy, and even in a growing number of sheds and garages cheaply converted into accommodation for maximum profit. The council can only help those most in need, while battling to improve the living conditions of those they can't rehouse. Shayne is living in a cramped bedsit, which he says he can only access by climbing through a window.