Homelessness crisis as the number on streets soars

THE number of people sleeping rough has increased by 134 per cent in six years as we face a ‘homelessness crisis’, according to MPs.

Ministers are accused of an ‘abject failure’ to confront the issue as 9,000 people are now on the streets.

The Commons public accounts committee warned that more than 78,000 households are living in temporary accommodation – including more than 120,000 children. That figure has increased by 60 per cent since 2010.

The MPs accused the Department of Communities and Local Government of having an ‘unacceptably complacent’ attitude to the problem.

They said the Government’s commitment to eliminate rough sleeping by 2027 will only address the ‘tip of the iceberg’.

Labour MP Meg Hillier, the committee chairman said: ‘The latest official figures hammer home the shameful state of homelessness in England and the abject

‘Human cost of policy failure’

failure of the Government’s approach to addressing the misery suffered by many thousands of families and individuals.

‘As we approach Christmas there are thousands of children in temporary accommodation – a salutary reminder of the human cost of policy failure.

‘The Government must do more to understand and measure the real-world costs and causes of homelessness and put in place the joined-up strategy that is so desperately needed.

‘That means properly addressing the shortage of realistic housing options for those at risk of homelessness or already in temporary accommodation.

‘More fundamentally, it means getting a grip on the market’s failure to provide genuinely affordable homes, both to rent and to buy.’ The report said there was an ‘unacceptable shortage’ of realistic housing options for the homeless or those at risk of homelessness.

Labour housing spokesman John Healey said: ‘This damning cross-party report shows that the Conservatives have caused the crisis of rapidly rising homelessness but have no plan to fix it.’