A new report by homelessness charity Shelter has found that 280,000 people are recorded as homeless in England, an increase of 23,000 since 2016. A lot of homelessness goes undocumented so the charity warns that the true figure will likely be even higher.
Shelter's annual report analyses official rough-sleeping and temporary accommodation figures alongside social services records. Finding that one in every 200 people are homeless, they noted that London has the worst rate of homelessness with it impacting one in 52 people.
Outside of London, figures are also high in Birmingham with one in 66 people homeless, Brighton with one in 75 and Manchester where figures sit at one in 102. For the first time, they also reviewed government data that exposed nearly 220,000 people in England were threatened with homelessness in the last year.
‘Homelessness blights lives and leaves a lasting imprint of trauma, and yet 280,000 people in England are without a home this Christmas. And many are only days away from joining them,’ Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said in a statement.
‘As well as those facing serious ill-health or even death sleeping rough on our streets this winter, there are thousands of families trapped in grotty emergency B&Bs, with no space for children to sit and eat, let alone play. This is the grim truth our new government must confront and do something radical to change.’
Urging the government to address the ‘dire lack of social homes at the crux of this emergency’, Shelter warned that the situation is only likely to get worse without urgent action.
‘Until the government acts to stem this crisis, the work of our frontline advisers remains critical,’ Neate said. ‘With the public’s support we will do everything we can to help people find a safe and stable place to live – no matter how long it takes.’
Sarah Martin, 40, is a full-time housing officer for a local council from Brent in North West London. She is one of the hundreds of thousands affected by homelessness. She currently lives in temporary accommodation with her 14-year-old son, Ishmael.
‘I suffered a mini-stroke as a result of MS, which led to myself and Ishmael moving back in with my mum for extra support,’ Martin said. ‘We were dealt another blow when my mum passed away – before I even had time to grieve, we were facing eviction from the place we’d called home for years.
‘We ended up in a hostel for over a year,’ she continued. ‘It was squalid. There were cockroaches everywhere and we had to share a bathroom and kitchen with other tenants. People would stumble around the corridors wild-eyed on drink and drugs and one poor woman tried to set herself alight. It was completely terrifying.'
Her son’s health and education suffered, with Martin saying his ‘cheeky smile’ soon became a ‘nervous frown’ with his grades plummeting at school. ‘We finally moved out of the hostel and into a flat this summer, which is also temporary accommodation,’ she said. ‘I’m so happy to be out of the hostel, but our current place is still riddled with problems. Water constantly leaks from the above flat, which leaves the walls, carpets and floors soaking wet. Shelter got involved with our case and the council agreed the flat isn’t suitable – so fingers crossed we have a real home soon.’
To find out more about how you can help Shelter, click here.
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