Homeless children surpass 150,000 in UK in 'most acute housing crisis'
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The number of homeless children in England currently exceeds the combined populations of places like Ipswich (151,565), Blackpool (149,070), and York (141,685).
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A homeless person sits with their dog in an underground station in London, on Saturday, November 18, 2023. (AP)
Over 150,000 children in the UK are living in temporary housing due to a housing crisis, according to Housing Secretary Angela Rayner.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on Thursday revealed official statistics indicating that as of March, 151,630 children were residing in hostels or bed and breakfasts (B&Bs).
In a statement, Rayner said, “We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and homelessness remains at record levels. This is nothing short of a national scandal,” adding, “Urgent action must be taken to fix this.”
According to Dave Robinson, assistant director of operations at housing provider Riverside, the number of homeless children in England currently exceeds the combined populations of places like Ipswich (151,565), Blackpool (149,070), and York (141,685).
According to government statistics, since the program's launch in 2004, there have been more homeless children living in temporary accommodations, but since March 2023, this number has climbed by 15%.
"Thousands" of households with children have stayed in bed-and-breakfasts for considerably longer than the six weeks that is the maximum duration allowed for families to stay there in an emergency. Polly Neate, CEO of housing charity Shelter, told the BBC that they are "unable to put down any roots" and spending “months if not years living out of suitcases."
Hannah Dalton, housing spokesperson for the District Councils’ Network, stated, “High use of temporary accommodation is the result of national policy failure which forces councils to expensively deal with the consequences of homelessness rather than prevent it in the first place.”
'Decades of failure'
Rayner is one of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s deputies and her ministry was reorganized last month from what the previous cabinet called the Department for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities.
According to Rayner, the government is now collaborating with local authorities "to develop a long-term strategy to end homelessness for good."
She pledged to implement this plan with "the biggest increase in social and affordable homebuilding in a generation," do away with no-fault evictions, and spend millions of pounds on housing the most vulnerable families.
The UK Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities said in a report back in May that the rate of homeless people in the United Kingdom increased by 15.8% between October and December 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 amid a housing crisis in the country.
At the time, The Guardian cited Neate stating that "decades of failure to build enough genuinely affordable social homes has left families struggling to cobble together extortionate sums every month to keep a roof over their heads."
"Those who can’t afford private rents are being thrown into homelessness and then left for months and even years in damaging temporary accommodation because there is nowhere else," she said.
