TOWERING over Harlow town centre and surrounded by 100 CCTV cameras is Terminus House, a 14-storey office block full to the brim with human beings, most of whom have been pushed out of other places and into the self-contained 13 square metre rooms.

The owner block, Caridon Property, claims it delivers a “good service” to tenants sleeping in these dwellings that are far smaller than the average British front room and cost anywhere from between £625 and £800 per month.

It is no surprise that the town – which was built by pioneers after the second world war to provide a better standard of life to inner-city Londoners – is increasingly being considered a dumping ground for London councils to alleviate their own problems.