Young People ‘Disproportionately Affected By Homelessness’
The government’s own figures show that a household became homeless every four minutes in England over the past Brexit-dominated year.
And the new MHCLG stats also show a new generation of young people and families are being hit by the housing emergency, with 56,440 aged 16 to 24 becoming homeless or threatened with homelessness during the same period, reports 24Housing.
Shelter chief executive Polly Neate, said: “During a year where Brexit negotiations have totally dominated the political agenda, catastrophic numbers of people have become homeless. While the housing crisis is out of the spotlight, families with young children are trapped in grim temporary accommodation like B&Bs and shipping containers, and young people feel the damaging effects of growing up in a housing emergency.”
The stats show:
- Young people are disproportionately affected by homelessness – they represent a fifth (21%) of all applicants found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness in the last year, but make up just 14% of the general population
- 22% of households found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness lost their last settled home due to the ending of a private-rented tenancy
- 28% of households found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness were living in a private-rented home – this is the most common type of accommodation to live in at the time of applying for homelessness support
- More than a quarter (27%) of applicants owed a homelessness duty are in work
“Cripplingly expensive private rents, frozen housing benefits, and lengthy waiting lists for social homes are pushing people to the sharp edge of a housing emergency which won’t go away without genuinely affordable homes,” said Neate. “The government must invest in a new generation of social homes – three million more in 20 years – if they are to pull hundreds of thousands of people out of homelessness. And in the meantime, they must urgently increase housing benefit so that it covers at least the bottom third of private rents,” she said.
The National Housing Federation (NHF) says its analysis of the stats shows the number of households and families in temporary accommodation reached at an eight-year high. The number of children living in temporary accommodation has risen to 126,020 – up 83% since its the lowest point in June 2011 – and that’s set to reach the highest level ever recorded as soon as December next year. Against this, only 5,183 new social homes were built in the last year – down from 35,784 in 2010.
“It is unacceptable that the number of families living in temporary accommodation has been allowed to reach an eight-year high, with no real action to tackle the root of the problem,” said NHF chief executive Kate Henderson. Many of these children are being forced to live in hostels and B&Bs with shared facilities and little privacy, and this is having a detrimental effect on their wellbeing and development.”
She added: “The government must take urgent action to tackle homelessness, which means urgently building more homes for people on the lowest incomes. We know we need to build 145,000 social homes, including 90,000 for social rent each year to house those in need including homeless families. To build these, the government must invest £12.8bn each year, specifically for new social housing.”
