Temporary housing need in London soars above average
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The number of Londoners living in temporary accommodation is ten times higher than the national average, according to a new study.
Research from the City Parochial Foundation and the New Policy Institute found almost 2 per cent of all households in London are in temporary accommodation. Of these, 40 per cent had spent more than two years in such circumstances.
North London tended to have higher rates of temporary accommodation than the south of the capital. The boroughs with the highest rates were Newham and Haringey, where 6 per cent of all households were in temporary accommodation.
Even the boroughs with the lowest rates for London were still above average for the rest of England. In Richmond and Merton, 0.5 per cent of households were temporary, compared with 0.4 per cent in Manchester.
The report also discovered almost 25 per cent of households in London were classed as overcrowded. In some boroughs, including Camden, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Tower Hamlets, this figure was closer to 30 per cent.
Bharat Mehta, chief executive of the City Parochial Foundation, said: ‘We need the government, London’s mayor, our local councils and the wider public and voluntary sectors to work together to give London the future it deserves.’
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beau | 20/05/2009 4:13 pm
The solution to this is such a no briainer!
Along with your story last week on the massive sums spent on temp accommodation, show that Private Sector Leasing is not the answer to addressing the needs of people without a home.
Firstly it provides insecure accommodation, secondly it is very very expensive in revenue funding and lastly it leaves LA's with expensive lease liability costs.
Much more sensible is the approach of engaging with the private rented sector and supporting the landlords with longer term AST's, rent assurances and support packages for vulnerable tenants. It can also be linked with stock condition and private sector grants.
The outcomes for this are more stable and sustainable tenancies and communities and landlords that can have some confidence in their dealings with LA's.
PSL can have a place within housing provision but not in the current market.
The government and LA's should seize this opportunity wtihin the housing market to make use the of PRS as a 'third source' of housing towards a social purpose. It could take a longer view and offer tax breaks to those landlords providing decent units at competitive rents.
What's stopping it???
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