Council Evicts Family From Temporary Accommodation For Not Attending Viewing 180 Miles Away

 A council has blamed government benefit restrictions for its decision to evict a family with three children from temporary accommodation after they were unable to attend a viewing for a home more than 180 miles away. Waltham Forest Council stated that it had a “duty to taxpayers” over the decision to end the temporary accommodation it was providing for the family in Lewisham. The council had a duty to house the family, but in June it issued a private sector discharge offer for a home in Stoke-on-Trent. But the family said they were unable to attend a viewing because the father had just started a new job in London. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/council-evicts-family-from-temporary-accommodation-for-failing-to-attend-viewing-180-miles-away-71794

Homelessness – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of homeless people living in England in each year since 2018.

Lord Greenhalgh: Levels of homelessness in England can be best estimated by looking at the number of households in temporary accommodation at the end of each year. In Q4 2018 this was 83,540; in Q4 2019 this was 88,310 and Q4 2020 is provisionally 95,370.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2021-06-09/HL944

One In Four Londoners In Temporary Housing Outside Their Local Area

More than one in four Londoners in temporary accommodation due to homelessness are being rehoused out of their local area, with some placed in cities more than 200 miles away such as Manchester and Bradford, analysis shows. At least 55,000 Londoners were in temporary housing outside their local areas at the end of 2020. Many are disabled or have mental health problems, or are in single-parent families with young children, and are awaiting a verdict on whether they are legally homeless or for settled accommodation to become available. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/02/one-in-four-londoners-in-temporary-housing-outside-their-local-area 

Households In Temporary Accommodation Up 8% At Start Of 2021

Homelessness statistics published by the government reveal there were 95,370 homeless households in temporary accommodation at the end of December. This is 7,060 more than at the end of 2019 – a rise of 8%. The increase was driven by a 45% surge among single-adult households to 28,570, while the number of households with children in temporary accommodation fell by 4.6% to 59,670. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/households-in-temporary-accommodation-up-8-at-start-of-2021-70476?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

One In Four Households Living In Temporary Accommodation Moved To Different Council Area

More than a quarter of households currently living in temporary accommodation have been moved away from the local authority that they first became homeless in, latest government statistics have shown. Of the 93,490 households living in temporary accommodation at the end of September last year, 25,930 (28%) were living in a local authority that was different to the one they submitted a homelessness application in. The percentage of homeless households being placed in temporary accommodation outside of their own council area has more than doubled over the past decade, with just 13% of households being placed outside of their home authority in 2011. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/one-in-four-households-living-in-temporary-accommodation-moved-to-different-council-area-69434?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

Don't Make Us Move In A Pandemic, Plead Tenants In 'Dire' Council Housing

Families living in temporary accommodation in a dilapidated former care home in south London – some for several years – are fighting moves to rehouse them miles away to make way for a new development which doesn’t yet have planning permission. Despite government guidelines urging social landlords not to put pressure on residents to move during lockdown, the families say they have been under constant stress since last summer when they discovered that plans had been drawn up for the new development. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/31/dont-make-us-move-in-a-pandemic-plead-tenants-in-dire-council-housing 

Councils To Receive Extra £310m Homelessness Prevention Grant Next Year

The Homelessness Prevention Grant will combine what was previously the Flexible Homelessness Support Grant and the Homelessness Reduction Grant with funding for these measures to be increased by £47m on current spending. Funding will be targeted at areas with high numbers of homelessness, including those living in temporary accommodation. Local authorities can use the money to offer financial support for people to find a new home, to work with landlords to prevent evictions or to provide temporary accommodation, among other preventative measures. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/councils-to-receive-extra-310m-homelessness-prevention-grant-next-year-69051 

Temporary Accommodation Spend Soars To £1.2bn

Spending on temporary accommodation by local authorities increased to £1.2bn last year, with the vast majority being paid to private landlords, letting agents or companies. Latest data published by the government shows that in 2019/20, councils spent £1.19bn on temporary accommodation, up 9% from the amount spent last year and up 55% from 2014/15. Of the total spent in England last year, 87% went to private landlords, letting agents or companies, a 66% increase on the amount paid to private providers in 2014/15. Spending on emergency B&B accommodation has increased by 73% since 2014/15. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/temporary-accommodation-spend-soars-to-12bn-with-majority-being-paid-to-private-companies-68305 

Households In Temporary Accommodation Rose Nearly 10% As Pandemic Hit

Official figures showed that councils assessed 75,140 households as either being homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days over a three-month period. That is a 9.7% jump from the figure for the previous quarter and the highest level since the assessment system was introduced in April 2018 as part of the Homelessness Reduction Act. On 31 March, there were 93,000 households in temporary accommodation including 129,380 children – up 5.3% from 88,310 households at 31 December and a 9.4% rise from the 85,040 recorded on the same date in 2019. The increase was mainly driven by single households, with a 28.5% rise over the 12-month period among this group. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/households-in-temporary-accommodation-rose-nearly-10-as-pandemic-hit-67617?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

Covid Rules Keeping Homeless Off Streets Must Be Extended

The Labour and Conservative mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands have called on the government to guarantee that everyone who is homeless gets temporary accommodation over the next 12 months, regardless of their immigration status. Andy Burnham and Andy Street said the UK needed a reset of homelessness policy and emergency homelessness legislation should provide safe accommodation throughout the outbreak. It comes as winter approaches and fears of a second wave of coronavirus have been raised. Figures show some 20,000 households in England have been made homeless during the pandemic. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/26/english-city-mayors-covid-rules-keeping-homeless-off-streets-extended-great-manchester-west-midlands 

Residents Win 60% Rent Reduction In London Council Flats

 Hundreds of families in temporary accommodation in east London have had their rent reduced by about 60% following a four-year campaign against their corporate social landlord. The London borough of Newham announced this week that “following a series of management issues” 250 properties in the borough, which were leased out by the council to the property management company Mears, would be transferred back into council management. As well as charging social rent, the council will now respond to repair works needed in the homes, which have been used as temporary accommodation to house local homeless households. The residents said the exact rent reduction would depend on each property. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/14/it-hasnt-sank-in-residents-win-60-rent-reduction-in-london-council-flats

‘Remorseless Rise’ In Use Of Temporary Accommodation

Use of temporary accommodation is “rising remorselessly” despite a fall in homelessness acceptances, according to the 2020 UK Housing Review. The review reports the total again rose by 5% year-on-year to top more than 86,000 last June – 79% above its low point eight years ago. London continues to account for two-thirds of the total number of placements at any one point in time – 57,000 as of June last year. Related spending by councils is also growing quickly, totalling almost £1.1bn to March last year – a 78% in just five years. Read the Review on the CIH website.

https://www.ukhousingreview.org.uk/ukhr20/acknowledgements.html

Homeless Travelodge Residents Turned Out On To Street

Hundreds of residents of the budget hotel chain Travelodge, including homeless families housed there by local councils, have been turned out on to the street after it closed its premises. The chain issued letters to all residents asking them to leave as soon as possible as they were “temporarily closing the hotels until further notice” in the light of the UK government’s extended coronavirus physical distancing guidelines. This appeared to be in defiance of government guidance that said that hotels looking after homeless families who had been placed in temporary accommodation at in hotels should not close. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/homeless-travelodge-residents-turned-out-on-to-street-coronavirus

New Stats Show A Household Becomes Homeless Every Four Minutes In England

Just hours after Government announced its rental protection plan, its own newly released stats show that in the last year a household became homeless every four minutes in England. The stats estimate 62,280 homeless families living in temporary accommodation, of which 9% (5,400) are living in emergency B&B’s and hostels where they have to share facilities kitchens and bathrooms and often sleep in a single room. The number of families living in temporary accommodation has increased by almost a third (31%) in the last five years. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/new-stats-show-a-household-becomes-homeless-every-four-minutes-in-england/

Hundreds Of Vulnerable People Refused Temporary Housing

Government data acquired through Freedom of Information Act requests provides the most comprehensive picture so far of how many vulnerable people applying for housing are missing out. The data shows that 525 (13%) out of 4,192 homeless applicants at risk of or who had experienced domestic abuse were found not to be in priority need for housing in the year up to June 2019. A total of 176 (19%) of 901 people at risk of or who had experienced sexual exploitation fell into the non-priority category. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/hundreds-of-vulnerable-people-refused-temporary-housing-exclusive-data-reveals--65145

Temporary Accommodation Is Where ‘Levelling Up’ Falls Down

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has 16 children “stuck” in had temporary accommodation in his constituency – 483 fewer than the London borough of Newham. That difference, the Commons heard, was where ‘levelling up’ fell down. The comparison was drawn by Labour’s Lyn Brown – who has part of Newham in her West Ham constituency. Brown asked Jenrick how it was fair to prioritise places such as Newark over places such as Newham. “Overall the number of children stuck in temporary accommodation in Newark is 16, 483 times lower than the figure in Newham,” she said. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/commons-told-temporary-accommodation-is-where-levelling-up-falls-down/

RSLs Among Biggest Beneficiaries Of Temporary Accommodation Contracts

Three current RSLs are named among the biggest beneficiaries of a “billion-pound-a-year temporary accommodation industry” exposed by a joint investigation between Shelter and BBC Panorama. Shelter says the stats as a whole show a need for the government to prioritise “a new generation of social homes” in the upcoming budget. A2 Dominion, Notting Hill Genesis, and Network Homes were together recipients of more than £16m from councils in 2018/19 over temporary accommodation in 2018/19. The panorama programme can be found on the iplayer website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000f1wr/panorama-cashing-in-on-the-housing-crisis

Temporary Accommodation: Children – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of children in temporary accommodation.

Luke Hall: The number of children in temporary accommodation at April-June 2019 is 127,370. This figure is taken from the quarterly statutory homelessness statistics and is available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/livetables-on-homelessness

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-01-14/3292

Homeless Households In England Up By 23% In A Year

The number of households considered newly homeless or at risk of becoming so has increased by almost 7,000 in just three months across England, according to government figures. Between April and June 2019, 68,170 households were initially assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness, representing an 11.4% increase from the same period last year. Of those, 32,220 households were deemed to be homeless – an increase of 23% on the same time period last year. The number of households living in temporary accommodation at hostels, bed and breakfasts, hotels and elsewhere was already at its highest level since 2007, and rose another 1,500 to 86,130. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/18/homeless-households-in-england-up-by-23-in-a-year-official-figures

Strategy To Combat Homelessness Unveiled

Uttlesford District Council (UDC) is aiming to eliminate all use of bed and breakfast accommodation for temporary housing over the next five years, as one of four main priorities in its newly-launched 'homelessness and rough sleeping strategy'. The strategy will be in place from 2020-2025 and see the council 'investing in the delivery of good quality affordable housing and suitable temporary accommodation'. UDC's three other priorities are: ensuring that homelessness is prevented through early intervention, working to end all rough sleeping in Uttlesford and providing residents with 'high quality housing advice'. Read more on the Saffron Walden Reporter website.

https://www.saffronwaldenreporter.co.uk/news/uttlesford-district-council-releases-homelessness-strategy-1-6398289