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Morning Briefing: quarter of people using homeless agencies are refugees

Almost a quarter of those seeking shelter with homelessness agencies in three of England’s biggest cities are refugees, the Independent reports this morning

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Morning Briefing: quarter of people using homeless agencies in big cities are refugees #ukhousing

The paper has been given a report by charity No Accommodation Network (NACCOM) which reveals that just under a quarter of people living across shelters in Manchester, London and Leicester were refugees.

In the shelter surveyed in Leicester, 16% of residents were refugees, 21% were refugees in Camden, London, while 41% were refugees in the Manchester shelter. The organisation’s wider figures show that refugees made up nearly a third (1,097 out of 3,471) of all shelter places.

Hazel Williams, national director at NACCOM, said it was a shocking reality that so many refugees were ending up homeless.

In other news highlighting the country’s growing homelessness problem, The Guardian focuses on latest figure from the Greater London Authority which shows the number of people sleeping rough on London’s streets has hit a record high.

A total of 8,855 people were recorded as sleeping on the streets last year, an 18% rise on the previous 12 months. Inside Housing’s take on the figures can be found here.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan blamed the crisis on welfare reform and a lack of investment in social housing.

The Guardian also analyses the full year accounts of house builder Berkeley, which saw profits fall by a fifth last year. Profits hit £775m for the year ending April 2019, down from £977m for the previous 12 months.

The builder, which was founded by Tony Pidgley, said that margins would be squeezed due to continuing Brexit uncertainty, particularly in London and the South East where Berkeley primarily operates. Over the past 12 months Berkeley has been looking outside of its traditional London home, with eight of its new developments this year being outside of Greater London, including one in Birmingham.

A group of disability charities have launched a complaint against the Department for Work and Pensions’ “myth-busting campaign” adverts in the Metro newspaper, writes the HuffPost.

The Disability Benefits Consortium, a coalition of more than 80 charities, has submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency. The “myth-busting” adverts were set out to answer questions about delays to payments, paying rent and sanctions but were slammed as “embarrassing” by charities who called on the money to be spent to help claimants.

In local news, the Hackney Citizen reports on a mother of four living in a Homerton Council block slated for demolition has still not been found a new place to live. Shahbana Bibi was told she would have to move from her home a year ago but the council has yet to find her a suitable place.

She had been offered a property nearby but rejected that after she claims she was subjected to racist abuse when visiting the property. The council said they have offered Ms Bibi a stable and affordable home and have undertaken extensive works to ensure that it is suitable.

Manchester Evening News has news of a major development in Wigan which will include more than 300 homes and provide a link road between the M6 and M61 motorways.

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