Over 22,000 16-25-Year-Olds Face Christmas Homelessness

New data collected from councils across England by Centrepoint shows some 22,000 young people aged 16-25 will be or are at risk of homelessness this Christmas. Centrepoint says the true scale of the crisis is hard to imagine, but in England the number of young people at risk of not having a safe place to call home this winter is comparable to the capacity of a sold-out gig at The O2 arena in London (20,000), or Birmingham’s NEC Arena (15,600). In addition to the council data, Centrepoint spoke to more than 200 young people, each of whom have recently experienced homelessness. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/over-22000-16-25-year-olds-face-christmas-homelessness/

Zero-Hours Contracts 'Trapping Young People In Homelessness'

Zero-hours contracts are trapping young people in homelessness. Centrepoint has said that the controversial contracts are making it harder for 16 to 25-year-olds to escape homelessness and more likely for them to be saddled with rent arrears leading them being evicted. The result was young people trying to get back on their feet after having been homeless were effectively being penalised for getting a job. For young people on zero-hours contracts the first problem was getting a landlord willing to accept them as a tenant in rented accommodation. With the current affordable housing shortage landlords could pick and choose tenants, and many viewed zero-hours workers as worse than jobless benefits claimants. Read more on the Independent.