2,300 homeless in North East this Christmas as figures rise 53% in the last year
by Adam Foster · ChronicleLiveNew research from homeless charity Shelter shows 2,300 people in the North East, including 810 children, will spend Christmas without a home - a shocking increase of 53% in one year.
Shelter's detailed analysis of official homelessness figures and responses to Freedom of Information requests reveal homelessness in the region has risen rapidly in just 12 months. 89 people are sleeping rough on any given night, an increase of 46% and 2,200 are living in temporary accommodation - a 56% increase - most of whom are in families with children.
Shelter’s research also looks at places across the North East where homelessness is most acute. Newcastle-upon-Tyne has the highest number of people without a home, with 335 people homeless, followed by Sunderland where it is 309 people and Durham with 306 people homeless.
Record private rents combined with inadequate housing benefit, rising evictions and a lack of genuinely affordable social homes has resulted in homelessness soaring across the country. Families who become homeless are usually placed in temporary accommodation by their local council, but all too often this accommodation is far from ‘temporary’, as the government’s own data shows that almost half (45%) of families in England have been there for over two years.
England’s chronic shortage of homes for social rent has left over 68,000 households on social housing waiting lists in the North East. With so few social homes available, families who become homeless have little hope of moving into a safe and secure home anytime soon. Instead, families are living out of bags and suitcases, spending months crammed into B&B rooms, often sharing kitchens and bathrooms with strangers. People who are not entitled to homelessness accommodation often are forced to sofa surf with family and friends or sleep on the streets.
Shelter’s frontline services are doing all they can to support thousands of people facing homelessness this winter – from providing expert advice to families stuck in unsafe and unsuitable temporary accommodation, to giving emergency help to people at risk of having to sleep rough. The charity is asking the public to donate to its Urgent Appeal to help it be there for the thousands of people experiencing homelessness this winter.
Tracy Guy, North East Service Lead at Shelter, said: "As the country prepares to wind down and celebrate the festive season in our homes, it’s unimaginable that 2,300 people in the North East will spend this winter homeless - many of them forced to shiver on the wet streets or in a B&B room with their entire family.
"Across the North East, a dire lack of genuinely affordable social homes is trapping more and more people in homelessness. Parents are spending sleepless nights worrying about their children living in cramped and often damaging temporary accommodation, where they could be moved at the drop of a hat.
"Until the government builds the social homes needed to end the housing emergency for good, Shelter will be there for people facing the devastation of homelessness. But we cannot do it without the help of the public – your donations allow us to provide emergency help for those facing a night on the streets as well as give vital, expert advice and help to people to keep their homes."
While Shelter’s analysis is the most comprehensive overview of recorded homelessness in England, the true figure is likely to be higher as some types of homelessness, such as sofa-surfing, go unrecorded.
To donate to Shelter’s Urgent Appeal, visit shelter.org.uk/WinterAppeal
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