Number of homeless children soars to over 120,000 – new figures
2 min read
The number of homeless children in England has risen by over a third since 2014, according to official figures.
The Local Government Association says there are now 120,540 children without a permanent home that are currently placed in temporary accommodation with their families.
This is a net increase increase of 32,650 (37%) since the second quarter of 2014.
The growth rate, the LGA adds, is an average of 906 extra children - the equivalent to an extra secondary school's worth of children - every month.
Cllr Martin Tett, the LGA’s Housing spokesman, said: “When councils are having to house the equivalent of an extra secondary school’s worth of pupils every month, and the net cost for councils of funding for temporary accommodation has tripled in the last three years, it’s clear the current situation is unsustainable for councils, and disruptive for families.
“Whilst the Government’s indication it will explore ways to enable councils to build more homes is encouraging, these new homes can’t appear overnight, and the demand is urgent.
“Councils are working hard to tackle homelessness, with some truly innovative work around the country – and we now need the Government to support this local effort by allowing councils to invest in building genuinely affordable homes, and taking steps to adapt welfare reforms to ensure housing remains affordable for low-income families.”
Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, John Healey, said: “Ministers should hang their heads in shame over these shocking new figures that show a sharp rise in the number of homeless children. In a country as decent and well off as ours every child should have a home to go to.
“This is the direct result of decisions made by Conservative Ministers over the last seven years – the lowest number of affordable homes for 24 years, no protection for private renters, and big cuts to charity and council budgets.
“We know it doesn’t have to be this way. When Labour was in government we cut homelessness to record low levels. We’ve now pledged to go further and end the shame of rough sleeping within our first term in government.”
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