Homeless families at highest number since financial crisis began

Experts blame Government's inability to ensure housing benefits kept up with with soaring rents

Charlie Cooper
Whitehall Correspondent
Tuesday 22 December 2015 01:20 GMT
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Experts said the Government’s failure to ensure housing benefits keep up with soaring private rental prices was the main factor behind the increase in people forced to live in temporary accommodation
Experts said the Government’s failure to ensure housing benefits keep up with soaring private rental prices was the main factor behind the increase in people forced to live in temporary accommodation

The number of households forced to live in emergency accommodation is at its highest level since the peak of the financial crisis, official figures show, as experts said that Government welfare cuts are driving England towards a new homelessness crisis.

Between July and September this year, 68,560 families and other households were housed in temporary accommodation, including thousands put up in B&Bs and hostels – the highest numbers since the same period in 2008.

In the same three month period, councils in England accepted 14,670 new applications for ‘statutory homelessness’ – more than at any time since 2008.

Experts said the Government’s failure to ensure housing benefits keep up with soaring private rental prices was the main factor behind the increase.

Housing benefits, which have been fixed at below inflation one per cent annual increases since 2013, are now set to be frozen for four years – a factor which the Chartered Institute of Housing said could create more homeless families.

The new homelessness figures, released by the Department of Communities and Local Government, prompted the Government to outline what it called a “radical” package of measures to combat homelessness, including the protection of homelessness prevention budgets for local authorities and a £5m fund for the 25 council areas facing the greatest accommodation pressures.

However, Labour’s leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Conservatives had “severely let down” the thousands of families – including an estimated 103,000 children – who will spend Christmas in temporary homes.

Highlighting the fact that the number of homeless households rose from 40,020 in 2009/10, to 54,430 in 2014/15 and the number of rough sleepers increased from 1,768 to 2,744 in the same period, Labour researchers estimated that on current trends the number of homeless households will, by 2020, be double what it was in 2010, when the Coalition came to power

Melanie Rees, head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing told The Independent that those who presented as homeless were only “the tip of the iceberg” and that councils were becoming “less and less well-equipped” to help people who lost their homes as a result of Government cuts.

The main cause of increasing homelessness has been welfare cuts that have seen housing benefits and other payments fail to keep pace with rising private sector rents, she said.

“We know that landlords are increasingly reluctant to take on people who are on benefits of any kind. The natural next step is to took look for help as statutory homeless,” she said.

“Because of a number of changes to social security and now planned cuts, landlords are increasingly seeing people on benefits as quite risky in terms of being able to realise their full rental income.”

“I think we’ll see an upward trend [in homelessness],” she added. “Some very good work was done over the last 10 years or so to help get people out of temporary accommodation, to minimise the use of bed and breakfasts, but we’re starting to see that go into reverse because of lack suitable places to move onto, and lack of affordable accommodation.”

In a message of support for volunteers helping the homeless this Christmas, Mr Corbyn said he considered it a “disgrace” that young and vulnerable people had been “among the hardest-hit” by cuts to welfare. He also told the Huffington Post that in his own constituency in north London, people who relied on housing benefit were being “socially cleansed” from communities.

Responding to the latest homelessness figures last week, communities minister Marcus Jones said: “We have made over £500 million available since 2010, which has prevented nearly a million people becoming homeless. We are committed to build on this over the next four years and work with the sector to do all we can to prevent homelessness.”

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “In 2015 no-one should be homeless or worrying whether they will have a roof over their head or a place to call home from one month to the next. We need the right kind of housing - social housing, truly affordable housing and social rented properties.”

Explainer: Britain’s homelessness time bomb

Q | What is meant by statutory homelessness

A | Those who can prove they are unintentionally homeless, and qualify for “priority need” status. This usually means they have dependent children, are pregnant, or are vulnerable as a result of age, disability, or certain other circumstances including fleeing domestic violence.

Q | What is driving the current increase in homelessness?

A | Nearly a third of new cases are now caused by a short-term private tenancy ending – a much higher proportion than in the past. Experts from homeless charity Shelter and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) say housing benefits and other welfare payments have not increased at anywhere near the same rate as rents.

The number of rough sleepers increased from 1,768 to 2,744 in in 2009-10

Q | Why are we seeing it now, when the economy is recovering?

A | The Chancellor, George Osborne, held housing benefit down at a one per cent increase per year from 2013. Meanwhile, rents have been rising. The national average rent for a room rose by 3.4 per cent from March 2014 to March 2015 alone. The combined effect of falling benefit payments relative to rental prices is only now beginning to make itself felt. Add in a shortage of affordable and social housing and you have the elements of a looming homelessness crisis.

Q | What is the outlook for the future?

A | Experts at the CIH believe the problem will get worse. Mr Osborne announced this year that housing benefit would now be frozen for four years, and the effects of the benefit cap will continue to make themselves felt. More and more private landlords no longer consider benefit claimants to be viable tenants. Add to this the risk that the Bank of England may increase interest rates in the coming months, with a potentially serious impact on low income homeowners struggling to pay off their mortgage, and rising homelessness may well become a defining feature of this Government’s time in office.

Case study: 'Living in a hostel is like being in a black hole’

Francesca Cook, 30, from south London, spent last Christmas in a cramped hostel with her daughter Cleo, who was 11, and her baby, Malachi.

I had lived at home with my mum but she unexpectedly became a guardian to two young family members. The house became overcrowded and we had to move out. Even though I continued to work as a student support adviser at a university, my lifestyle went downhill when we moved into the hostel. It was a horrible time. I found it hard just getting out of bed because I didn’t want to face the day ahead. I didn’t realise how important a home was until I moved into a hostel – I couldn’t relax. It doesn’t feel like you’ve got a future, you can’t look ahead. It’s like being in a black hole.”

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