Responding to the latest Government homelessness statistics which reveal that the number of families in temporary accommodation at the end of last year was just under 79,000, Cllr Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s Housing spokesman, said:
“Councils, on the front line of tackling homelessness, understand that behind these figures are thousands of individual tragedies, and are determined to do all they can to prevent people from losing their home in the first place.
“On average over the last three years, councils are having to house the equivalent of an extra secondary school’s worth of homeless children in temporary accommodation every month. That is not only unsustainable for councils, but hugely disruptive to the families involved, and it’s crucial we tackle our national housing shortage at the root cause, by building the homes our communities desperately need. However, the need is urgent and these new homes can’t appear overnight.
“Through adapting welfare reforms to ensure housing remains affordable for low-income families and allowing all councils, across the country, to borrow to build new homes, the Government can help councils tackle homelessness – it’s now critical that they take steps to do this.”
Housing, planning and homelessness
As house builders, housing enablers, and landlords; as planners, place-shapers, and agents of growth, transport and infrastructure; as responsible guardians to the vulnerable and the homeless; and as democratically accountable to communities – local government is at the heart of the housing solution.