A damning new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) outlines the government’s efforts to tackle homelessness have been ineffective and is calling for an affordable homes target.
The report was published today (Friday 24th January) and was created following an inquiry that was launched by the PAC last year, who are now referring to homelessness in England as ‘a crisis situation’.
MPs found that of the estimated £2.1bn spent by local authorities in 2023-24 on temporary accommodation, a large majority was used to meet the urgent need for immediate support, rather than preventative measures that are so desperately needed.
To give context, the report found 6,000 homeless families with children are living in B&Bs outside of their local areas as a result of the lack of alternative accommodation. Of this statistic, almost 4,000 families had been there for longer than six weeks.
Another area that requires serious attention, according to the report, is households currently on the cusp of facing homelessness. The findings show figures have exceeded 320,000 between 2023-24 – the highest on record. The increase has been fuelled by a rise in rental costs, coupled with a failure of benefits and pay to keep up with the climbing cost of living.
On the topic of housing benefits, MPs said Local Housing Allowance rates didn’t much rental costs. Some 45% of households now face a shortfall between the housing allowance they receive and the rent they pay.
As a result of these findings, the PAC are calling on the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to set out a clear strategy that outlines preventative measures to battle the homelessness crisis. After all, an overarching homelessness strategy has been implemented in each of the devolved nations, except England.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative MP and chair of the committee, said the group are ‘deeply concerned by the number of people currently being housed in sub-standard, overpriced at times, wholly inappropriate accommodation, sometimes a long way from their previous home.’
‘A lack of affordable housing, a focus on short-term solutions and no clear strategy to tackle this issue have left us with thousands of families in deeply troubling circumstance,’ Sir Clifton-Brown added. ‘We are calling for an overarching strategy that addresses the need for better connectivity across government departments to tackle the root causes of the crisis. Without one, we fear this will remain an issue into which money is simply poured, without effectively tackling the blight of homelessness.’
Echoing a similar tone, Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis – the leading homelessness charity – said: ‘Living costs and rent have been skyrocketing, and homelessness increasing. Local councils are stuck between a rock and a hard place, due to limited funds, and the impact on people facing homelessness has been catastrophic.’
In response to the report, government officials have outlined how they plan to act going forward.
‘These figures are completely unacceptable and demonstrate the devastating homelessness crisis we have inherited,’ a government spokesperson claimed. ‘This is why we are taking urgent and decisive action to end homelessness for good, including committing £1bn in additional support for homelessness services and address the use of emergency accommodation.
‘We’re talking the root causes of homelessness, committing in our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million new homes, which includes building the social and affordable homes this country needs, and are changing the law to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions – immediately tackling one of the leading causes of homelessness.’
The full report from the PAC can be found here.
In related news:
Burnley scheme returns nearly one thousand vacant homes to use