0:49:03 > 0:49:06Britain is facing a huge housing crisis,
0:49:06 > 0:49:09and nowhere is it more acute than here in London.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12Something like 600,000 Londoners
0:49:12 > 0:49:14have left this city in the past decade,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17and that's not because they want to leave,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19it's simply that they can't afford
0:49:19 > 0:49:22to either buy a place or rent a place.
0:49:22 > 0:49:23It's hardly surprising,
0:49:23 > 0:49:26when you know that the average house price now in London
0:49:26 > 0:49:28is half a million pounds,
0:49:28 > 0:49:33and the average age of a first-time buyer is now 38 years old.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Now, I'm here in Dagenham to find out a bit more
0:49:36 > 0:49:42about the crisis in house buying and also in social housing,
0:49:42 > 0:49:44because this is something which is affecting Londoners,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47as it is affecting people all over the country.
0:49:49 > 0:49:50So, Debbie, can you tell us,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53what's your problem at the moment with your housing?
0:49:53 > 0:49:55Er, my problem is...
0:49:55 > 0:49:59is that there's five of us, me and my fiance and my three children.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02- Yeah.- And we're all living in a two-bedroom property.
0:50:02 > 0:50:03Really? Wow.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10What's it like compared to, say, 10 years ago, 20 years ago?
0:50:10 > 0:50:12Um...
0:50:12 > 0:50:17Well, from when I got my first home in 2001,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19- um, I waited for about six months. - Yeah.
0:50:19 > 0:50:26And then, obviously, from 2008, there's more overpopulation,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29less housing, so everyone's waiting longer.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32I've been waiting since 2008 for a bigger property,
0:50:32 > 0:50:35so I would say it's got a lot, lot worse.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37Whilst we're not controlling our own borders,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41and people have free access to this country,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43more and more people are going to come to London.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46We just simply will never be able to keep up
0:50:46 > 0:50:48with the rate that people are coming into the country.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50You'll never build enough houses.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58I'm going up to meet Jennifer,
0:50:58 > 0:51:03who lives on the 16th floor of this block in Dagenham.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07She's got three small children,
0:51:07 > 0:51:12and you can see the size of this lift - barely take a buggy.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15- Jennifer?- Hello.- Hello, hi.
0:51:15 > 0:51:16- Come in.- Oh, great. Thanks very much.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19- It's a small lift, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21I don't know how you get anything in there.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23Um, so...
0:51:23 > 0:51:28- Jennifer, you're from... You're from Dagenham, aren't you?- Yeah.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30And your whole family, isn't that right?
0:51:30 > 0:51:32Three generations, in fact.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36Cos, like, my uncle still lives in my nan's house.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39And then I lived with my mum in Barking and Dagenham
0:51:39 > 0:51:41since I was a baby.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45- My husband's lived in the borough for 30 years.- Yeah. Yeah.- So...
0:51:45 > 0:51:48You've been in this flat now for how long?
0:51:48 > 0:51:50- 9½ years.- Yeah.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54Why has it...? Why has it been so difficult? Why is it so tough?
0:51:54 > 0:51:58There's just too many people on the housing list,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01and you get people that come to the borough,
0:52:01 > 0:52:02and they get put on the list
0:52:02 > 0:52:05and then they get housed before everyone else.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07But do you think you will have to move further out?
0:52:07 > 0:52:10- I mean, do you think that's what will...?- Probably.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14If we can't get moved here, on this list, then maybe a different list.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17- Yeah, yeah.- Further out.- Yeah.
0:52:17 > 0:52:18GIRLS GIGGLE
0:52:18 > 0:52:20But how do you feel about moving away?
0:52:20 > 0:52:21It's not going to be nice,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24cos obviously friends and family are here.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27But, if we have to move further apart, then...
0:52:27 > 0:52:29- that's what we'll have to do.- Yeah.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34- What's the effect on you, you know? - It does get me down.
0:52:34 > 0:52:35When they're asking...
0:52:35 > 0:52:38- VOICE CRACKS:- "Oh, when are we going to get a garden?" Sorry.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40Mm, mm, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44No, it's tough. Very tough. SHE SNIFFS
0:52:48 > 0:52:49These are not isolated cases.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51Indeed, it's happening across London
0:52:51 > 0:52:53and, indeed, across the whole country, too.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57Our population is going up by over a third of a million a year,
0:52:57 > 0:52:59as a direct result of open borders.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02And we simply can't build houses quickly enough.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06The same knock-on applies for education and for health.
0:53:06 > 0:53:07I blame the government.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10The job of government is to plan for provision
0:53:10 > 0:53:13for housing and public services.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15But with open borders, we don't know,
0:53:15 > 0:53:19looking five years ahead, to within the nearest million people,
0:53:19 > 0:53:21how many folk will be in our country.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23Let's take back control of our borders,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26and let's plan for our public services
0:53:26 > 0:53:28and, crucially, for our houses.