Nearly 150 families are stuck living in temporary accommodation in Oldham

More than double the number of homeless households have turned to Oldham Council for help this year compared to last year.

Between April 1 to June 30, 2018, there were 67 households living in temporary accommodation in Oldham.

In this same period in 2019, there were 148 households in temporary accommodation, with 146 of these currently still not placed in a permanent home.

In neighbouring Manchester, nearly 1,700 people came to the council for help in September because they were already homeless, or they feared they were about to become so.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, a family became homeless every hour in Greater Manchester last year.

Cllr Hannah Roberts told the council: ‘The figures are shocking and show a marked increase of families in crisis in Oldham.’

‘The actions required to address these issues must come from central government policy change because despite our best efforts, Oldham council cannot address the issues with the current policies and resources available.’

‘Welfare policies need to change, housing benefit no longer covers rent, the detrimental impact of universal credit affects too many in our borough.’

‘The government promised to reform section 21 ‘no-fault evictions’,  which are a major cause of homelessness here and across the country, other than coining a phrase, nothing has changed.’

A ‘no-fault’ eviction lets private landlords evict tenants with two months’ notice once their fixed-term contract has ended, without giving a reason.

On April 15 the government announced that it will put an end to so-called ‘no-fault’ evictions by repealing section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.

In related news, in London, there are 54,000 homeless households living in temporary accommodation — often in shabby bed and breakfasts or run-down private flats.

The crisis has got so bad that families have even been handed one-way tickets to seaside towns on the south coast due to a lack of suitable housing in their home city.

To help improve the situation, London Councils has set up the not-for-profit Pan-London Accommodation Collaborative Enterprise (PLACE), which builds on a successful project in Lewisham two years ago that saw 24 two-bedroom modular homes made available for the borough’s most in need.

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