You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
500,000 on brink of homelessness because of pandemic, councils warn
Half a million households are at risk of becoming homeless because of the coronavirus crisis, councils have warned.
The District Councils’ Network (DCN), which represents 187 authorities with responsibility for homelessness, said housing must be at the centre of ministers’ exit strategy to avoid a surge in people losing their homes as a result of a loss of income during the pandemic.
Analysis by the DCN identified 486,242 households spending more than half their earnings on private rented housing who could be at risk of homelessness when the government’s evictions moratorium ends.
Frontline workers on low wages, such as those dealing with the emergency in the health, food and logistics sectors, are likely to be especially susceptible, according to the body.
Lone parents with children account for 108,000 of the at-risk households, with another 100,000 between the ages of 16 and 24. Around 160,000 have incomes less than £15,000 a year.
READ MORE
A further 174,000 housing association households on top of those in private rented homes spend more than half their incomes on rent, the DCN said, plus another 98,000 council tenants.
Councils and charities have expressed concern that evictions may spike once the measures are lifted.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick promised this week that renters in arrears will be given “added protection” when the eviction moratorium ends.
“We have grave concerns that the huge impact on jobs and incomes could send many of these half a million families over the edge and into homelessness in the coming months, particularly those struggling to pay their rent in the private rented sector.
“Councils, landlords, charities and other partners are all working hard now to avoid people becoming homeless, however we are in unprecedented times and have grave concerns for the months ahead.
“The government has already rightly acted to support businesses and residents, but to avert a huge rise in homelessness it must now put the housing crisis at the centre of its exit strategy and recovery effort to support people as the scale of the economic impact becomes clearer.”
Giles Archibald, better lives spokesperson for the DCN and leader of South Lakeland Council, said: “Many families were already struggling to keep a roof over their heads before the coronavirus struck, including people now on the frontline beating this crisis, lone parents, low earners and young people.
The DCN called on the government to permanently lift housing-related benefit for private renters, increase councils’ homelessness funding, invest in new council housebuilding and ensure that financial support for businesses incentivises them to keep and create jobs.
A spokesperson for the government said: “We’re committed to supporting all those affected by COVID-19 through these unprecedented times and we’ve implemented an enormous package of measures to do so.
“We’ve injected more than £6.5 billion into the welfare system, including helping over one million households by raising Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. And we’ve increased protections for renters to prevent evictions due to difficulties caused by COVID-19.
“We’ve also provided £180m in Discretionary Housing Payments to local authorities this year to further support those most in need.”
