By James Simons-
There are more homeless children in London than the rest of the country put together, new figures from charity Shelter show.
Out of 123,000 homeless children in temporary accommodation in England, nearly 74,000 are in the capital.
According to data, children comprise almost half (45%) of all people recorded as homeless in the data, which covers up to 30 June.
The local authorities are calling on the Government to make urgent changes to national policy, warning the issue will “get even worse” amid the cost-of-living crisis, while Shelter says it is bracing for a “sharp rise” in homelessness in 2023.
Overall, there are 150,000 homeless people in London, a rate of one in 58.
Shelter’s figures show the rate of homelessness in London last year was almost three times higher than that of England as a whole, which stood at one in 208.
The capital’s high rate of homelessness contrasts most starkly to that in the north east, which had the lowest rate in the country last year at one in 2,118 people.
Across the country, at least 271,000 people were homeless in 2022, with Shelter estimating almost half of them were children.
The figures were established using Government statistics, Freedom of Information requests and data from the membership charity Homeless Link.
They include people sleeping rough and staying in hostels or supported accommodation, but the vast majority – nearly 250,000 people, mainly families – were living in temporary accommodation.
Use of temporary accommodation has risen by an “alarming” 74 per cent in the last decade, Shelter said, which it attributed to a “chronic shortage” of social homes.
Meanwhile, the charity stressed the figures are likely to underestimate the true scale of the issue, as they do not include the various forms of hidden or unofficial homelessness, such as sofa surfing or overcrowded homes.
Cllr Rodwell, speaking on behalf of London Councils – a cross-party organisation representing London’s 32 boroughs and the City of London – said: “We’re concerned that cost-of-living pressures mean this desperate situation will get even worse before it gets better.
“Councils across the capital are seeing more and more residents turning to us for help.
“We urgently need renewed action on tackling homelessness, especially through making better use of the welfare system to help low-income households with their housing costs and through investing in the new affordable homes our communities are crying out for.
It comes months after the number of people sleeping rough in London reached 5,712, a rise of just over a fifth, according to City Hall.
Newham in east London has the highest level of homelessness in the capital with one in 21 people affected, followed by Westminster with one in 27 people and Haringey in north London where one in 33 people are without a home.
The photographer documenting London’s homeless community Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said the charity was bracing itself for a sharp rise in homelessness in 2023.
She said: “The new year should be a time of hope, but this isn’t the case for the over 150,000 homeless people in London who are facing a truly bleak 2023.
“A cold doorway or a grotty hostel room is not a home, but this is reality for too many people today.
“Our frontline advisers are working tirelessly to help people who are desperate to escape homelessness – from the parents doing all they can to provide some shred of a normal family life while stuck in an emergency B&B, to the person terrified of another night sleeping rough.”
A government spokesperson said: “Councils have a duty to ensure no family is left without a roof over their heads.
“That is why we’ve given them £366m this year to help prevent evictions, support to pay deposits and provide temporary housing.
“Temporary accommodation is always a last resort. Over half a million households have been prevented from becoming homeless since 2018 through the Homelessness Reduction Act.”