New research from Shelter shows at least 167,000 people in London will spend Christmas without a home, including 82,000 children. This is a stark increase of 11% in one year.
Shelter’s comprehensive analysis of official homelessness figures and responses to Freedom of Information requests reveal one in every 53 people in London are homeless today. The charity’s research shows homelessness in the region has risen rapidly in just 12 months: more than 850 people are sleeping rough on any given night (34% increase) and over 165,000 people are living in temporary accommodation (11% increase) – most of whom are families.
Shelter’s research also looks at places across London where homelessness is most acute. Newham comes out worst, with 1 in 20, 17,200 people homeless, followed by Westminster where 1 in 25, 8,000 people, are homeless and Hackney, where 1 in 33, 7,900 people are without a home.
Councils have a legal duty to house families and people who are vulnerable, but the acute shortage of affordable homes means they are having to rely on temporary accommodation for long periods. The growing emergency is leaving families stuck for months in grotty hostels, B&Bs and cramped bedsits, often having to share beds with no, or inadequate, cooking and laundry facilities. People not entitled to accommodation may end up on the streets, sofa-surfing or in dangerous living conditions.
Shelter’s frontline services are dealing with the grim reality of rising homelessness every day from supporting families crammed into a one-room B&B with mouldy walls and bed bugs, to providing emergency assistance to people faced with a night on the streets. The charity has launched an urgent appeal calling on the public to help it be there for people experiencing homelessness this winter.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Homelessness is on nobody’s Christmas list, but 167,000 people in London will spend this time of year in a tiny hostel room or freezing in a doorway.
“The housing emergency is out of control. Chronic underinvestment in social homes has left people unable to afford skyrocketing private rents and plunged record numbers into homelessness. It is appalling that the government has allowed thousands of families to be packed into damp and dirty B&B’s and hostel rooms, which are traumatising children and making people desperately ill.
“Until the government takes this emergency seriously, our frontline services will do everything they can to help people keep or find a safe home this winter. It is only with the public’s support that we can continue to provide vital advice and support and fight for the solutions people want and need to end homelessness. To donate to Shelter’s Urgent Appeal, visit shelter.org.uk/donate.”
While Shelter’s analysis is the most comprehensive overview of recorded homelessness in England, the true figure is likely to be higher as some types of homelessness, like sofa-surging, go entirely undocumented.
