Homelessness report lays bare ‘urgent need for new approach’
London Councils have claimed that a National Audit Office (NAO) report shows the government’s current strategy for tackling homelessness is severely ineffective.
A new, scathing report from the public spending watchdog highlights that homelessness is at its highest level in England since records began and that the only way we’re going to see improvements is if the government change their approach.
In the research, which was published yesterday, NAO said despite a number of measures being introduced under Theresa May’s government in 2018, homelessness had soared, with record numbers of families now trapped in unsuitable accommodation. Some of the contributing factors include cutting housing benefits, sky-high rents, insecure tenancies and shortages of social housing.
The lack of social homes is also costing the taxpayer £2.4bn a year and threatening to bankrupt district councils, the report added.
When Theresa May was in power, she introduced the Homelessness Reduction Act, which came into force in 2018, giving local authorities new duties to try and rectify the Tories’ dismal record on homelessness over the previous eight years.
However, NAO concluded that despite some small improvements, the condition worsened.
Councils were given the opportunity to use B&Bs for households with children as a last resort is suitable homes couldn’t be found, but the latest figures show 4,560 households with children were put up in B&Bs, of which 2,960 had been living in them for longer than six weeks.
‘The situation has worsened since we last examined the issue in 2017. Despite the introduction of the Homelessness reduction Act in 2017, homelessness numbers are at a record level and expected to increase,’ the report read.
Since the publication of the report, experts are now calling on the new government to implement strategies that will make a difference.
Claire Holland, the Local Government Association’s housing spokesperson, said: ‘We need government to take urgent action to implement the recommendations highlighted in this report, by adopting a genuinely cross-departmental approach to tackling homelessness, and producing a long-term strategy.’
Likewise, Cllr Grace Williams, London Councils’ executive member for housing & regeneration, added: ‘Homelessness represents a national emergency and urgently needs a new approach.
‘Every homelessness case is a human tragedy. One in every 23 children in London is currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation. These rates of homelessness have massive impacts on individual wellbeing and opportunities, as well as contributing to unsustainable financial pressures on council budgets.
‘But homelessness is not inevitable. As this report clearly demonstrates, government policy could be far more effective in tackling homelessness and getting to grips with its underlying causes. Better co-ordination across government departments, greater housing security, sufficient funding for councils, and more investment in building affordable homes are key to turning the situation around.
‘London boroughs are determined to work with the new government and the Mayor of London in tackling this crisis – there is not a moment to waste.’
Image: Levi Meir Clancy
