Jenny Jones has called on the Mayor and Government to institute radical reforms to private rented housing and to stop benefit cuts in light of Government figures released today, which show a 36% increase in the number of people becoming homeless in London, comparing the last quarters of 2011 and 2010. This follows her work on a London Assembly report into the condition of private rented housing, which recommended that tenants are offered more secure tenancy agreements.
Jenny Jones commented,
"This rise in homelessness is unsurprising and depressing, but completely avoidable. One fifth of people became homeless just because their insecure tenancy ended, another fifth because they have had to move out of their parents’ home into the incredibly expensive rental market. With housing benefit cuts now biting deep into people’s incomes, this is only going to get worse.
"The Mayor and the Government urgently need to rethink their entire approach to private rented housing, to offer protection for people by legislating for more secure tenancy agreements and to reduce the benefit bill by reducing rents instead of reducing the number of homes people can afford to rent."