Latest figures released by the Department of
Communities & Local Government (DCLG) on 28 September show that
78,180 households were living in temporary accommodation on 30 June
2017 (these households included 120,170 children or expected
children). This is up 7% on a year earlier, and up 63% on the low
of 48,010 at 31 December 2010.
On a slightly more positive note, between 1 April and 30 June
2017 local authorities accepted 14,400 households as being
statutorily homeless - i.e. households owed a statutory duty to
secure accommodation as a result of being unintentionally homeless
and deemed to be in priority need. This was down by 1% on the
previous quarter and down 5% on the same quarter last year.
Local authorities also took action to prevent and relieve some
54,270 households between 1 April and 30 June 2017.
These figures come at a time when the media reported that
Kensington & Chelsea Council had rehoused just 20 families made
homeless as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire into permanent
accommodation and some 180 households made homeless as a result of
the fire still needed to be found permanent accommodation. It
is reported that to help speed up rehousing the council had bought
about 120 homes since the fire on 14 June with another 40 in the
process of acquisition.
These latest figures show that across England only 75% of
households left temporary accommodation less than a year after
being accepted as homeless and the corresponding figure for London
was significantly worse at only 40%.
Read the full Statistical Release.
Commenting on the latest homelessness figures, John
Bibby, ARCH Chief Executive said:
Much political & media focus has quite rightly been
given to the need to quickly rehouse those households made
homeless as a result of the tragic fire at Grenfell, but more must
also be done to help the many thousands of other households who are
homeless and living in temporary accommodation across
England. The Government could help by abandoning the idea of
the High Value Asset Levy and sale of higher value council housing,
reinstating the 10 year social rent policy introduced in 2014 and
raising the Housing Revenue Account debt cap to enable
stock-retained councils to build more social housing to help
families in severe housing need.