Crisis can see poor in hostels, B&Bs

– More than 100 000 households in England could be living in bed and breakfast accommodation and hostels by 2020 due to a critical housing shortage, a study showed yesterday.

The report by charity group Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JFR) said current trends indicated the crisis would get worse as local councils battled to find homes for those in need.

It said 78 000 homeless households were in temporary accommodation so far in 2018, with Britain experiencing a housing crisis as homebuilding has declined since the ’70s.

London

“High housing costs, low pay and insecure work are locking people in poverty. With councils finding it harder to help, more families are forced into temporary accommodation,” JRF chief executive Campbell Robb said.

Government data shows about one in six properties in England, or four million homes, are social housing – a figure that has stagnated for a decade.

The annual report said 70% of local councils said they struggled to find housing for homeless people last year.

About 89% of local authorities surveyed said they had also found it difficult to secure private accommodation with more landlords not wanting to rent to people on welfare.

“It is pretty much impossible to access the private rental sector. The solution is unsustainable because of the massive disparity between LHA (local housing allowance) rates and market rent,” one council in the Midlands said in the report.

Sleeping on the streets has risen in England for seven consecutive years, according to government figures, with more than 1 000 homeless in London and 4 100 nationally. – Reuters