WIREDGOV

On 08/08/2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released the latest Statutory Homelessness statistics for January to March 2024.

General statistics

• 94,560 households had initial homelessness assessments, a 6.1% increase compared to the same quarter last year when using the same data measurements.
• 86,520 were assessed as owed a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness.
• 38,440 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness, and therefore owed a prevention duty which is down 0.6% from the same quarter last year. This includes 6,630 households threatened with homelessness due to service of a Section 21 notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy – an increase of 1.2% from the same quarter last year.
• 17,120 households were accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, up 19.8% from January to March 2023.
• On 31 March 2024, 117,450 households were in temporary accommodation, which is an increase of 12.3% from 31 March 2023. Households with children increased by 14.7% to 74,530, and single households increased by 8.5% to 42,920. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of households in temporary accommodation had increased by 4.3%.

Leaving institutions

• 1,270 households required a prevention duty after leaving accommodation provided by the Home Office, an increase of 108.2% on the previous year.
• 4,840 households required a relief duty after leaving accommodation provided by the Home Office, an increase in 348.1% compared to the previous year.
• 1,040 households were owed a prevention duty due to leaving an institution with no accommodation available, an increase of 48.6% on the previous year.
• 2,670 households were owed a relief duty due to leaving an institution with no accommodation available, an increase of 23% on the previous year.

Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, the membership body for homelessness services, said:

“Everyone needs a safe place to live. But, whether it’s rough sleeping, temporary accommodation or sofa surfing, England faces a homelessness epidemic. People’s lives are being blighted by insecurity while the costs mean councils across the country are facing bankruptcy. Clearly this must change.

“We welcome the new Government's mission to break down barriers to opportunity and recognition of the importance of a safe and stable home through building new social housing. But we urgently need to see action to better support the people trapped in homelessness right now. Therefore, I urge the Government to prioritise swift action on this and the cross-government approach to homelessness to build a society with a home 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.”