London: Homelessness on the rise, 167,000 people to be homeless this Christmas, charity shelter
At least 167,000 people are homeless in London, including 82,000 children, who are expected to spend Christmas without a home this year, a housing charity says. According to new data, the number of homeless people in the British capital has increased by 11% in a year. Polly Nett, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, blamed chronic underinvestment in social housing for the rise.
Homelessness figures and responses to Freedom of Information requests revealed that one in 53 people in London is homeless. The government says it is spending £2 billion to tackle rough sleeping and homelessness. The shelter says the number of individual rough sleepers has increased by 34 percent in a year, with more than 165,000 people living in temporary accommodation.
The figures revealed that the highest number of homeless people are in Barrow Newheim, with 17,200. This is followed by Westminster, with 8,000 homeless people, and Hackney in third place with 7,900.
Miss Nate says homelessness is not on anyone's Christmas list, but this year 167,000 people in London will spend the festive period in a tiny hostel room or in a freezing hallway. He said that the housing emergency is out of control.
Housing charity Shelter called on the government to take the housing emergency seriously and plan effectively to deal with it. Charity says its analysis is the most comprehensive review of recorded homelessness, but cautions that the true figure could be higher due to some hidden homelessness, such as couch surfing.
A spokesperson for the Department for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities says everyone deserves a safe place to call home. That's why we're spending £2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, including £1 billion available for councils to provide financial support for people to find new homes and move out of temporary accommodation. Newham Council says it is working incredibly hard to support residents facing homelessness in the current housing crisis.