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Rise in households in temporary accommodation
The number of people in temporary accommodation has risen 3% in the last year, with London still accounting for the majority of those affected, according to latest government figures.
Households in temporary accommodation totalled 79,880 at the end of March this year, compared to 77,220 in March 2017, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government reported today.
London accounted for 68% of the households in England in temporary accommodation.
The overall UK figure of 79,880 was up 66% on the low of 48,010 at the end of December 2010.
“It’s clear that our country is in the firm grip of a housing crisis as these figures starkly show, with older people and single parents both bearing the brunt,” said Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter.
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, added: “While we welcome steps the government has taken around preventing homelessness, today’s figures are a stark reminder that there are still far too many people who are homeless and stuck in temporary accommodation or being placed in sub-standard and sometimes dangerous B&Bs.”
Todays figures also showed the number of families registered as statutorily homeless fell 6% to 13,740 in the three months to 31 March 2018, compared to the same period last year. However, on the previous quarter, the number of statutorily homeless rose 1%.
Earlier this month, a report by Crisis proposed policies which it claimed could end homelessness within 10 years. The strategy includes building 100,500 social homes a year for the next 15 years across England, Scotland and Wales.
