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Minister says homelessness figures are ‘too high’ as 5,500 at risk at Christmas
Homelessness figures are too high, a government minister has said, as charities estimate 5,500 households are at risk of losing their home in the final quarter of this year.
Responding to an oral question from Lord Shipley in the House of Lords on Monday, who outlined the latest homelessness figures, Baroness Penn, parliamentary under secretary of state in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), said she “would acknowledge that those figures are too high”.
She added that the government’s own statistics on homelessness at Christmas will not be made available until the spring.
Lord Shipley asked the government for its plans to “increase the supply of social rent homes to reach the 90,000 required each year to end homelessness”.
“At least 300,000 people will spend this Christmas without a home, including 140,000 children, which is a 14% increase in one year,” he said.
“The number of households trapped in temporary accommodation reached record highs last year and yet only 9,500 social rent homes were delivered.”
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Baroness Penn said: “Our focus as a government has been on preventing people falling into homelessness, and that’s what a large part of our budget has focused on.
“But the noble lord is also right that we need to increase forms of affordable housing; social rent, yes, but also all forms of affordable housing. That’s what we’re doing.”
The exchange came after homelessness charity Crisis warned of “immense stress” facing thousands of people this Christmas.
According to The Salvation Army, around 23,500 households in England will be classed as homeless in the last quarter of 2023.
Of these, around 5,500 homeless households will not qualify as in priority need for emergency accommodation and could be sleeping on the streets by Christmas.
This month, research from Shelter, another homelessness charity, showed at least 309,000 people in England are homeless, including almost 140,000 children. This is an increase of 38,100 people compared to December 2022.
About 3,000 people are thought to be sleeping rough on any given night, a 26% increase.
An additional 279,400 people, mostly families, are living in temporary accommodation, up 14%. A further 20,000 people are in hostels or supported accommodation.
Crisis said it would provide accommodation to 590 people who would otherwise be sleeping rough in London this Christmas, as well as opening three-day centres for people in hostels and B&Bs.
Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “Christmas should be a time of celebration, but instead, thousands of people will be experiencing homelessness, while others on the brink will be wondering if this Christmas will be the last in their own home.
“Through our services, we see how the lack of security for renters is driving up homelessness. Day in day out, we witness the emotional and financial toll it has on people.
“What’s more, the severe shortage of affordable housing means that people who are served an eviction notice often struggle to find somewhere else they can afford. It cannot be understated the immense stress this causes people, as they face the very real prospect of being thrust into homelessness.
“Scrapping no-fault evictions cannot come soon enough, but ultimately we need the next government to commit to tackling the root causes of homelessness if we want to end it for good.”
DLUHC was contacted for a response.
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