UNPRECEDENTED EXPLOSION OF HOMELESSNESS

 Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522

Housing crisis may bankrupt

councils

England’s housing crisis will push many local authorities into bankruptcy as the increasing cost of emergency accommodation for thousands of homeless families threatens to overwhelm council budgets,  says an article in The Guardian newspaper.

HOUSING CRISIS TOWN...HASTINGS

The worst-hit councils are now spending millions of pounds a year – in some cases between a fifth and half of their total available financial resources – to try to cope with an unprecedented and rapid explosion in homelessness caused by rising rents and a shrinking supply of affordable properties.

The scale of the crisis means smaller councils, often in affluent shire counties, are struggling to supply enough emergency homes to meet their legal duty to support homeless families. Homelessness rates in some districts have more than doubled year on year.

Councils that have enjoyed housing stability for years are now reeling at the accelerating cost of the crisis. Basildon borough council in Essex has seen spending on temporary accommodation rise from £7,000 in 2017 to £2m in 2022. Hastings borough council, in East Sussex, spent £750,000 in 2019 but expects its annual bill to be £5.6m by next April.

There is cross-party consensus in local government about the need for urgent ministerial action, with even Tory-controlled councils calling for rent controls, increases in housing benefit rates and investment in new social housing to prevent the crisis from dragging smaller districts into insolvency.

“Unless the government acts now, many of us will go over the edge financially, with a devastating impact on local services. The decline of the safety net which district councils provide will hit the most vulnerable members of our communities hardest,” said Hannah Dalton, housing spokesperson for the District Councils’ Network.

The housing charity Shelter in a statement this week said:”A new generation of social rent homes is the only sustainable solution to the housing emergency and the way the country rebuilds its housing system long term.

“Social rent is the only housing tenure that’s truly affordable because rents are tied to local incomes. To provide people with safe, secure and affordable homes, political parties across the spectrum must commit to building 90,000 social homes a year for 10 years.”

  Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277