WIREDGOV

On 03/10/2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released the annual Statutory Homelessness statistics for 2023/24.

Topline statistics

• Initial assessments were made for 358,370 households in England in 2023-24, up 10.4% from the previous year.
• 146,430 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness and therefore owed a prevention duty in 2023-24. This is a 3.1% increase from 2022-23
• 57,340 households were threatened with homelessness due to an end of an assured shorthold tenancy, a 4.6% increase on 22/23. 
• 178,560 households were assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty in 2023-24. This is up 12.3% from 2022-23.
• Increase in households owed a prevention duty (up 113.9%) or a relief duty (up 251.2%) on being required to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support.
• Increase in households owed a prevention duty (up 92.0%) or a relief duty (up 79.2%) due to rent arrears from an increase in rent.

Responding to the data, Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, the membership body for homelessness services, yesterday said:

“Everyone needs a safe and secure place to live, but alarmingly the number of people being threatened with or forced into homelessness continues to surge, exposing people’s lives to trauma. Vital homelessness support services are at breaking point and many councils – spending the lion’s share of their budgets on temporary accommodation – are facing bankruptcy. 

“Urgent action is needed. 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. This will be essential to ensure vulnerable people are not left without support, while allowing time to restructure the broken homelessness funding system into one that is sustainable and fit for purpose, with a focus on prevention, housing supply and support to end homelessness for everyone.” 

Responding to the huge increase in homelessness among people leaving asylum accommodation, Henderson went on to say: 

“Years of hostile government policies towards people seeking asylum in the UK created a backlog of cases at massive cost to the Home Office, with huge numbers of people trapped in asylum accommodation In an effort to address the mounting backlog, in August 2023, the previous government, without consulting local authorities or the homelessness and migrant sectors, suddenly changed the procedure for ending asylum support once a decision had been made. This resulted in many people being given less than 28 days, and as little as seven days in many cases, to make move-on arrangements after being told to leave their asylum accommodation 

“The result was the huge increase in the number of newly recognised refugees experiencing homelessness we see today, as they had so little time to apply for entitlements and work with local authorities and charities to find long-term accommodation. For people who had already fled their home country in traumatic circumstances, sleeping rough in a new country was deeply traumatising, with many likely to live with the impact for years to come. Meanwhile underfunded services still continue to see high numbers of newly recognised refugees turning to them for support.  

“The new Government must learn from these mistakes and increase the move on period from asylum accommodation from 28 to 56 days, in line with the Homelessness Reduction Act. 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.”