Green Assembly Member Darren Johnson comments on the rising amount of people being made homeless in London.
A homeless resident of Covent Garden, photograph courtesy of Mani Parsa.
Government figures released today show that the number of households accepted as homeless in London rose 3 per cent to 4,350 between 1 October 2013 and 31 December 2013, while acceptances dropped across the rest of the country. Loss of tenancy accounted for one third of the new cases, the single biggest cause. The number of people accommodated outside their local authority area also rose, with 94% of such cases in London boroughs.
Darren commented, “These figures show that London is being badly hit by the housing crisis and welfare cuts. Homelessness is still rising, and families are being moved out of their local area because councils can’t find cheap enough homes to rent, forcing them to take their children out of school, potentially lose their job and leave their support networks behind.
“The biggest cause of homelessness is landlords turfing people out. We urgently need more security for private tenants and regulations to stabilise rents so homeless families can be housed properly, otherwise they will be left sofa surfing, living out of B&Bs, or they will be shipped out of London to somewhere cheaper.”