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Morning Briefing: spotlight on homelessness as latest figures show rise

Homelessness dominates the news today as government figures revealed that the number of people living in temporary accommodation in England is on the rise

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Picture: Getty
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Morning Briefing: spotlight on homelessness as latest figures show rise #ukhousing

Many national papers have reported on the government’s latest statistics which that show the number of households in temporary accommodation is at its highest in over a decade.

The Huffpost has led on the fact that the number of households either homeless or threatened with homelessness in the first quarter of 2019 has risen by 10% on the previous quarter.

Speaking to The Guardian, Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said that the numbers equate to one household becoming homeless every four minutes in England last year and said the government must invest in a new generation of social homes to “pull hundreds of thousands of people out of homelessness”.

The I newspaper spoke to homeless families who have been housed in temporary accommodation in Camden for as long as 11 years.

Last month Inside Housing reported that these families are threatening Camden Council with legal action as they claim its homelessness policy discriminates against homeless people. The council denies this claim.


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Kent Live has reported on the terrible ordeal of a family of eight who lived in a tent for longer than a month, after being deemed intentionally homeless by Thanet District Council.

The family had to live in a tent at the children’s grandmother’s house in Ramsgate after both parents suffered from poor health within months of each other.

Meanwhile, Peterborough City Council is in talks to buy a homelessness centre which has been in operation since 2016 when more than 70 tenants were evicted, in order to make way for temporary accommodation.

According to the BBC, the tenants have raised concerns over living conditions, including a mother who said she had to share a bed with her four children to keep warm.

Elsewhere, there’s disturbing news as new figures reveal that the number of people killed due to domestic violence in the UK is at its highest level in five years. Data obtained by the BBC shows that last year, 173 people were killed in domestic violence-related homicides.

Meanwhile another BBC investigation has found that most children fail to wake up to the standard sound of a smoke alarm.

The BBC’s Watchdog programme carried out a test on eight children aged between 16 months and 10 years old, and only one showed any sign of being woken by the alarm.

Finally, at least £4.5m has been spent improving high-rise tower blocks in Fife, Scotland, since the Grenfell Tower disaster over two years ago, according to a BBC report.

Work has included new doors, signs, ventilation improvements, fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

On social media

As the latest figures show the rise in homelessness, our business reporter Luke Barratt questions the logic of the government’s latest analysis on rough sleeping:

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