HOMELESSNESS in England has soared in the past year due to sky-high rents and the asylum backlog, latest official figures revealed today.
The government’s annual statistics show that 146,430 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness and therefore owed a prevention duty in 2023-24, up 3.1 per cent from the year before.
More than 57,300 households were threatened with homelessness due to the end of an assured shorthold tenancy, a 4.6 per cent increase on 2022-23, and 178,560 households were assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty.
This is up 12.3 per cent from 2022-23.
There was also a 113.9 per cent increase in households owed a prevention duty and a 251.2 per cent increase in a relief duty after being required to leave the Home Office’s asylum support accommodation.
The figures for those due to rent arrears from a rent increase were up 92 per cent and 79.2 per cent respectively.
Analysis of the figures by homeless charity Centrepoint found that thousands more young people were owed homelessness support in the last year, up 6.5 per cent.
The data also showed that the number of households with children living in temporary accommodation for at least five years has risen by almost a quarter.
Homeless Link CEO Rick Henderson said: “Building social housing and the promised cross-government strategy should reduce homelessness in the long-term, while the Renters’ Rights Bill will help prevent homelessness among people renting privately.
“But a cliff-edge in homelessness funding is looming in March 2025.
“The government must therefore use the Autumn Budget to provide financial certainty for homelessness services.”
Mr Henderson also warned that years of hostile government policies towards asylum-seekers have left people trapped in asylum accommodation and suddenly left without support once a decision is made.
He said Labour must learn from the previous government’s mistakes and increase the move-on period from 28 to 56 days to ensure people can make arrangements.
“This will give local authorities and charities the crucial time needed to work with people leaving the asylum system to find suitable accommodation and give them the stability to build the new life they’re entitled to,” he added.
Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali said the government is committed to tackling the root causes of homelessness by “putting in place lasting solutions rather than quick fixes.”
Centrepoint’s Dr Tom Kerridge warned that the figures are “just the tip of the iceberg and underplay the true scale of homelessness” seen by support groups.
“The government has a responsibility to ensure that every council has sufficient resources to assess every homeless young person coming forward for support,” he said.
“Centrepoint estimates that there needs to be at least £332 million in additional funding to help councils in England meet their statutory obligations to homeless young people.”
Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said: “Overpriced private rentals and the lack of genuinely affordable social homes are pushing families into homelessness and insecure temporary accommodation.
“Families are crammed into small rooms, sharing kitchens and bathrooms with strangers and living out of suitcases, worrying they could be moved miles away overnight.
“The government must act to end homelessness for good.”
Renters’ Reform Coalition director Tom Darling said that the figures “show that the renting crisis is driving the homelessness crisis” and urged the government to “hold their nerve in the face of threats from landlords of a wave of evictions” before the new Renters’ Rights Bill comes in.
Jen Clark, economic and social rights lead at Amnesty International UK, said the government “must move beyond blaming inherited policies” and the promise of new housing as a “magic future solution” to the homelessness crisis.
