HOUSING must be made a human right in British law in order to hold the government to account for its “woeful failures,” on tackling homelessness, a new report has claimed. 

The major report into homelessness in England by Amnesty International, claims that key government policies have resulted in thousands of people being denied housing. 

Looking at British policies, law and practices, the human rights group found that people are “locked out” from accessing homelessness support by a series of “stringent and draconian eligibility criteria.” 

They include immigration policies which exclude migrants who are not entitled to receive benefits, people who are not recognised as being in a “priority need” group and those deemed “intentionally homeless.”

Six women interviewed by Amnesty for the report said that they were not considered as being “priority need,” because their children had been taken into care by social services. 

Mandy (not her real name) who was classed as a single homeless female after her children were taken in by family members, said: “I was therefore not ‘priority need’ and it took longer to be given a place where I felt safe. This prolonged the period of me being separated from my children.”

Amnesty is calling for the “priority need” criteria to be abolished, as well as the “intentionally homeless” policy, which allows councils to deny someone support if they are considered to have refused to accept “suitable” accommodation. 

The human rights group argues that such policies contravene Britain’s international obligations under human rights law, which recognises access to adequate housing as a fundamental right, adding that housing is too often viewed as a “luxury.” 

Amnesty chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: “It’s very convenient for the government that people often assume a person is homeless as a result of personal circumstances, but in truth homelessness is a result of a systematic failure of government.

“The absurd obstacle course which a person experiencing homelessness has to get through in order to ‘qualify’ for housing help is intended to lock them out, because there simply isn’t enough housing for the ever-growing need.

“Unless housing is rightfully recognised as a basic legal human right, there is no way to hold the government to account for its woeful failings.”

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said the government is giving £2 billion to councils over the next three years to tackle homelessness which can be used to help everyone including those with restricted eligibility. 

“There are safeguards in place to ensure vulnerable migrants who are destitute and have other needs, such as supporting children, can receive help and can also apply to have their no recourse to public funds conditions lifted,” they added.