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Morning Briefing: homeless children housed in shipping containers
A report reveals that homeless children are being housed in shipping containers, the dire living conditions for asylum seekers in London are exposed, and all your other major housing stories
In the news
Several national news outlets, including the BBC, have written about a new report from the Children’s Commissioner of England which reveals that homeless children are being temporarily placed in repurposed shipping containers and office blocks.
Entitled Bleak Houses, the report estimates that there are currently over 210,000 homeless children in the UK, including 90,000 who are estimated to be sofa-surfing.
While the report does not say where the shipping containers are based, there are reports of such places existing in Bristol, Cardiff and west London.
The Local Government Association blamed a lack of social housing and a £159m funding gap in councils’ homelessness budgets for the temporary accommodation crisis.
The Guardian reports on another dire housing crisis, revealing that hundreds of asylum seekers have been placed in rat-infested guest houses, provided by a Home Office contractor.
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Footage shows rooms at the Maharaja Guest House in west London swarming with cockroaches. In one kitchen, over 100 cockroaches scattered when one cupboard was open.
One unnamed lawyer accused home secretary Priti Patel of being “slum landlord in chief”. The building managers are paid by the Home Office and advertise rooms priced from £40 per night, the Guardian writes.
A Home Office spokesperson said the department took the well-being of asylum seekers “extremely seriously”.
Also in the Guardian is a report that sales and profits at Persimmon, the UK’s second biggest house builder, have fallen following criticism of the company’s shoddy workmanship and over reliance on the government’s Help to Buy scheme.
The group’s half-year profits dropped from £516m to £509m. Persimmon said it has increased spending on customer service by 40% in the first six months of 2019.
Earlier this year, the house builder came under intense pressure after ousted former boss Jeff Fairburn qualified for a bonus payout of £110m, while the government’s Help to Buy scheme helped Persimmon make a record-breaking profit of over £1bn last year.
A Northern housing association, which was downgraded by the regulator after losses of £5.5m in a commercial arm that has now regained its compliance status, has secured a council loan, The Northern Echo reports.
Broadacres, which was formed following a stock transfer from Hambleton District Council in 1993, is now hoping to build 1,250 affordable new homes over the next five years.
The Welsh government has announced new funding to help tackle youth homelessness, committing £3.4m to support 26 accommodation projects.
The BBC reports on the funding alongside the story of a teenager in Bridgend who was made homeless at the age of 14.
In Scotland, solicitors at Govan Law Centre have criticised Shelter for its decision to threaten Glasgow City Council with court action over its homelessness policy.
As reported in Scottish Housing News, the solicitors said homeless people in Glasgow need accommodation not “well-intentioned words”.
Shelter Scotland is accusing Glasgow City Council of “unlawfully” turning away homeless people and wants it to review its homelessness strategy. The council said the apparent problems in Glasgow are in part due to the way homeless data is recorded.
On social media
There are more problems in Glasgow as protestors gathered outside the council offices to demand it provides emergency accommodation to asylum seekers facing eviction:
Today with @no_evictions we locked in the city council asking them to uphold the task force recommendations to provide social work assessments for everyone facing lock change evictions and to defy the home office by providing emergency accommodation.
— Living Rent Glasgow (@Glasgow_LR)
Massive well done to every1 pic.twitter.com/we1N32tfztToday with @no_evictions we locked in the city council asking them to uphold the task force recommendations to provide social work assessments for everyone facing lock change evictions and to defy the home office by providing emergency accommodation.
— Living Rent Glasgow (@Glasgow_LR) August 20, 2019
Massive well done to every1 pic.twitter.com/we1N32tfzt
Tom Copley, chair of the London Assembly housing committee, urges his followers to sign a petition asking parliament to debate the impact of permitted development:
Permitted development rights allowing developers to convert offices to flats without full planning permission are leading to unaffordable rabbit hutch hovels.
— Tom Copley (@tomcopley)
Please sign @LevittBernstein’s petition calling for a Parliamentary debate on this awful policy t.co/mEk6K3Yk0aPermitted development rights allowing developers to convert offices to flats without full planning permission are leading to unaffordable rabbit hutch hovels.
— Tom Copley (@tomcopley) August 19, 2019
Please sign @LevittBernstein’s petition calling for a Parliamentary debate on this awful policy https://t.co/mEk6K3Yk0a
