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Majority of councils struggling to find homeless housing

The majority of councils in England are struggling to find permanent housing for homeless people, a new report from Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has revealed.

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Councils are increasingly relying on temporary accommodation
Councils are increasingly relying on temporary accommodation
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Majority of councils struggling to find homeless housing #ukhousing

Out of 186 councils surveyed 70% said they had difficulties finding social housing for homeless people last year, while 89% reported struggling to find private rented accommodation.

The problem of rising homelessness is not limited to London, with only 40% of councils in London reporting the number of people seeking help had risen during the past year compared with 76% in the Midlands, 70% in the south and 62% in the north.

Councils have become increasingly reliant on temporary accommodation, which includes B&Bs and hostels. The latest government statistics show that 78,000 households are in temporary accommodation and the report’s authors said if current trends continue more than 100,000 such households will be trapped in temporary accommodation by 2020.


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The annual Homelessness Monitor: England study is funded by Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and carried out by academics from Heriot-Watt University. It includes a survey of councils, statistical analysis and interviews with local and national government representatives and homelessness charities.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said: “It’s truly terrible that, across England, councils are finding it increasingly difficult to find homeless people somewhere to live. This means ever more people are ending up trapped in B&Bs and hostels, with no stability and often in cramped conditions.

“Today’s report makes it clear that, unless we take action as a society, this problem will only keep getting worse. Homelessness is not inevitable and our research has shown how it can become a thing of the past.

“We warmly welcome the government’s pledges to tackle rough sleeping and the new Homelessness Reduction Act, but the government must provide more social housing that all homeless people can access if this push is going to succeed.”

Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, the report’s lead author, said: “This year’s Homelessness Monitor has, again, provided evidence of the profound, cumulative and adverse impact of welfare reform on access to housing for low-income groups, especially in high-value markets.

“The options are narrowing for local authorities charged with preventing and resolving homelessness, as benefit-reliant households are entirely priced out of the private rented sector in some parts of the country. At the same time, homeless people’s access to a diminishing pool of social tenancies is increasingly constrained by landlord nervousness about letting to households whose incomes are now so very low that even properties let at social rents can be unaffordable to them.”

 

 

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