‘Find a place you can afford’ urges council

Homeless people trapped in temporary accommodation for months on end are being urged to ‘find a place you can afford’ by Brent Council.

Brent has experienced a 23 percent increase in the number of homelessness applications – up from 6,000 to more than 7,300 – over the past three years. Each week, an average of 140 households are becoming homeless in Brent. Of all homeless households, around half are trapped in very basic and costly ‘temporary’ accommodation.

Government data shows that London accounts for 57% of England’s total number of homeless households living in temporary accommodation. Around 175,000 Londoners – equivalent to one in 50 residents of the capital – are currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation arranged by their local borough. This figure includes one in 23 children, meaning on average there is at least one homeless child in every London classroom. The homeless emergency is being driven by a perfect storm of rising rents, which have soared by nearly 34% in Brent over the past year, a backlog of people being evicted since the pandemic, reduced supply of private rented housing and cost of living pressures.

“The number of homeless families we have in so called ‘temporary’ accommodation has now reached critical levels,” says Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council. “Sadly the reality is children are growing up in temporary accommodation, coming home from school to do their homework on the floor of a shared bathroom of a hostel and eating dinner perched on the side of their bed. This is a human tragedy but it’s not a situation of Brent’s making.

“Despite building more new homes than almost any other borough in the capital over the past decade, Brent is one of the places worst affected by London’s homelessness emergency. We just can’t build quickly enough to meet the tsunami of demand.”

Unfortunately, the vast majority of residents in temporary accommodation will eventually end up in the private rented sector outside of London due to the sky-high rents in London and lack of affordable housing in the capital. However, some homeless people believe that staying in temporary accommodation increases their chances of securing a council home.

“Some people think that becoming homeless increases their chance of a council home, it does not,” continues Cllr Butt. “Right now, there are more than 34,000 families or individuals on our social housing waiting list. Some have been waiting since the last century and they are still waiting. An average of just 650 council homes become available each year, with 40% of them being 1 bed properties, so this queue is moving very slowly and waiting times are getting longer. It is important that the council is honest with people and that homeless households don’t have unrealistic expectations.”

Brent overspent it’s budget by over £13m last year and is forecast to overspend by more than £10m this year mainly due to the cost of temporary accommodation such as hostels and bed and breakfasts. Meanwhile London’s councils are spending more than £90million a month on temporary accommodation.

Cllr Butt concludes: “As well as the terrible human cost, this homelessness emergency is completely unaffordable for taxpayers. This is why we are launching our ‘Find a place you can afford’ campaign. If you find yourself homeless, for most people your housing options will be in the private rented sector. Rather than being stuck in temporary accommodation for months on end and still end up in the private rented sector somewhere outside of London, we are advising homeless families to take control of their housing situation and find a place they can afford.

“We will be able to help families secure a home financially, ensuring that the rental property is safe and checking that it is affordable in the long-term. We are here to help.”

Brent launched its Find a place you can afford campaign with a video (below), booklet and webpage with more housing advice.