Yahoo News Mapped: The Greater Manchester boroughs with highest rates of homelessness
A record number of people will be homeless this Christmas, with an estimated 16,500 of them in Greater Manchester.
That's according to national housing charity Shelter which, in its annual report, has revealed that at least 354,000 people in England, including 161,500 children, will spend Christmas without a home. It’s an increase of 14 per cent, or 44,500 people, in the last year alone.
The statistics, compiled by Shelter, suggest that 16,500 people will be homeless across Greater Manchester, half of whom will be children. The problem is most acute in Manchester where Shelter says 9,042 people do not have a home, 4,326 of them children.
According to these figures, Manchester has the highest rate of homelessness in the North West and ranks 18th in the country. Salford and Oldham also appear high up on the regional list with an estimated 1,921 and 1,502 homeless people in each borough respectively.
The report, which analyses official homelessness figures and responses to Freedom of Information requests, reveals that Newham in London has the highest rate of homelessness in the country. An estimated 19,000 people are homeless in the borough, including more than 9,500 children, or one in every 18 residents.
The top 10 areas with the highest rates are all in London, but Slough has the highest rate outside the capital, with one in 51 people likely to be homeless this Christmas. It’s followed by Luton (one in 57), Manchester (one in 61) and Birmingham (one in 62).
Shelter say that record private rents combined with inadequate housing benefit, rising evictions and a lack of genuinely affordable social homes has resulted in homelessness soaring. Families who become homeless are usually placed in temporary accommodation by their local council, but all too often this accommodation is far from temporary.
The government’s own data shows that almost half (45 per cent) of families have been there for over two years. The chronic shortage of homes for social rent has left over 1.3m households on social housing waiting lists across the country.
With so few social homes available, families who become homeless have little hope of moving into a safe and secure home anytime soon. Instead, thousands of 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 say their 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. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “As the country prepares to wind down and celebrate the festive season in our homes, it’s unimaginable that 354,000 will spend this winter homeless - many of them forced to shiver on the wet streets or in a mouldy hostel room with their entire family.
“Across England, extortionate private rents combined with 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 growing up in cramped and often damaging temporary accommodation, as weeks and months turn into years without somewhere secure for them to call home.
“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.”
To donate to Shelter’s Urgent Appeal, visit shelter.org.uk/WinterAppeal
