Sharp rise in number of households facing the threat of homelessness

THE number of households facing homelessness in England has increased by 11 per cent in a year, figures show.

Thousands of families have also been uprooted and moved to a different area in order to find somewhere to live, according to the Government.

A report by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government showed the most frequent cause for loss of home was “friends or family no longer willing or able to accommodate”, which covered 25 per cent of households, followed by termination of shorthold tenancies, at 21 per cent.

Between April and June 2018, the number of households initially assessed as either homeless or threatened with homelessness was 61,210.

In the same period in 2019, the number was 68,170 – an increase of 11.4 per cent. Of that number, nearly half, 32,220, were deemed to be already homeless – an increase of 22.6 per cent on the same period last year. The report covered people assessed by their local authority as statutorily homeless – meaning they do not have a legal right to occupy accommodation that is accessible, physically available and which would be reasonable for the household to continue to live in. The category differs from rough sleeping.

The ministry also included figures on people in temporary housing, which was reported as 86,130 on June 30 of this year, up by 4.5 per cent from 82,390 on the same date last year.

Children in those households numbered 127,370, an increase of 2.9 per cent compared with June 2018. The figures also showed that 23,430 homeless households had been uprooted and placed in temporary accommodation in a different council area from the one they applied in. More than 86 per cent of these were from London authorities.

Polly Neate, chief executive at Shelter, the homeless charity, said: “Now the election is over, the new Government must turn its attention on our worsening housing emergency.”

John Healey MP, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, said: “There’s no more powerful reminder of the need for a Labour government than the homelessness we now see in every town and city in our country.”

Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, said: “More people are getting the support they need to start rebuilding their lives – backed by £1.2 billion in funding to reduce all forms of homelessness and rough sleeping, the duty we’ve placed on councils to provide vital help to those who need it, and our commitment to building the homes this country needs.”