Almost a quarter of a million people recorded homeless, living in temporary homes says Shelter

winter is five years old throughout her whole life she's lived in temporary accommodation her mom Yasmin doesn't like to invite friends around because she says she's embarrassed by the state of the damp and mold there's damp in nearly every single room um every room when I moved in the toilet was leaking into the back Garden there was tissue feces everything all over the garden my cockroach got through the front door frame which is like right here to its right wood there was fleas everywhere in all the carpets jumping off the windowsills by Emma daughter like in the bed so winter actually had bite marks oh yeah yeah I've got pictures and stuff she got bit all up her body from legs to top the family previously spent months in hotels and hostels across Manchester they were then offered this property until they can be re-housed permanently as we're filming we hear evidence of another problem I can actually hear something yeah it sounds like something's creeping around the dock I think it's been there all day I'm just really scared I'm scared that it's just gonna can you hear it I can hear the mouse and it's not the first time Yasmine has caught a mouse the council has to pay 800 pounds a month to rent this property because it doesn't have enough social housing to accommodate everyone in the city who needs it winter and Jasmine aren't alone new research by the charity shelter seen by channel 4 news shows that more than 230 000 people are registered as homeless in England and that includes a hundred and twenty three thousand children with a pressure on social housing temporary accommodation is anything but the government told us that temporary accommodation is a last resort and that councils have been given 366 million pounds this year to prevent evictions but the numbers are growing every day at Manchester's civil court we listen to dozens of cases in which families faced losing their homes so is it because of the cost of living crisis you feel that you'll see more and more people absolutely Kirsty almond helps tenants in both social and private housing who are faced with eviction across Manchester and merseyside what I noticed in court was that there were people from all different backgrounds who are up for eviction because there's a perception that it's people on benefits in social housing but that's not what we saw in court no not at all we advise social Finance private tenants we also advise those who are unable to keep up repayments with the mortgages people are losing jobs and and rents are increasing and people just simply can't afford to keep up with those rents and so we're seeing more frequently that there isn't anything that we can do to keep people in the homes the number of people living in temporary accommodation has sharply risen by 74 percent in the last 10 years and more than two-thirds of those families have been there for over a year in the short term the government needs to unfreeze housing benefit that's urgent but they also need to supply homes that people on low incomes can actually afford to rent and buy that I mean social rent housing what's the worst thing about being in temporary accommodation um that you just have no no Freedom no rights and you're just a number and I can't decorate I can't have my own personality we have to keep boxes all over the house just in case we have to move tomorrow the council might say to you that you know at least you're not in a hotel now you've got a house you're luckier than a lot of people yeah I'll just wait in my turn basically and you've got no idea when that turn will come nope Manchester City Council told us they're very concerned that Yasmin has had such an unsatisfactory experience and they're working to resolve the issues as soon as possible they said there's a national issue with the quality of private rented accommodation and considerable pressure locally on temporary provision what are your hopes now for yourself and for your daughter winter um to get out of here as fast as possible it's looking as though she is going to grow up in temporary accommodation unless the council want to change something maybe build more houses I don't know but it's going to be a long time she's going to be nearly grown up darshan Sonny reporting there well earlier I spoke to Lord Bob cursed like the former head of the Civil Service who used to run the communities and local government Department he now chairs the cursed Lake Commission on homelessness and rough sleeping I began by asking him for his reaction to the scale of homelessness in England well it's a shocking figure but I'm afraid not surprising this has been building for a number of years and what's the government have taken measures to address some of the most acute issues on homelessness particularly rough sleeping I'm afraid the core problem we have in this country we're not is that we're not building enough genuinely affordable homes I mean that is the fundamental problem that has been a problem in successive governments of of different political Hues most recently uh housing targets which councils were supposed to observe were watered down after a rebellion by conservative MP so how do political parties get around this kind of nimbyism how do they address that well it's a good question and it's not just that we need to build more homes we specifically need to build more homes that are genuinely affordable for rent because really those are the houses that people who are at risk of becoming homeless need to go into and the problem I'm afraid has been exacerbated by the rising cost of living and the rising level of rents in London they're soaring and I'm afraid the housing allowance the so-called local housing allowance that sets the level of benefits just hasn't kept pace so you're finding if you like more people coming into homelessness and fewer opportunities to house them I mean the government has said it's it's given these cost of living payments there's a two billion pound household support fund it sounds like a lot of money um is it not in your view well I'm afraid it's not matching the scale of the challenge that's the problem and uh if you talk to any local Authority if you talk to any organization working in the homelessness sector they will give you the same story that after a period where we've seen rough sleeping particularly for and homelessness for it's starting to rise again I think the government need to just wake up to the scale of the problem I think also by the way we're going to have to look at some different ways of getting more genuinely affordable homes are available for those in temporary accommodation more quickly it's just worth saying that the this is the worst of all worlds you know the cost of temporary accommodation is huge and the experience of those who are in it is terrible um absolutely terrible in many many occasions so we have to see the scale of the problem and do something about it there is a renter's Reform Bill on the books which should be should make legislation later this year um how urgent is that particularly in the context of evictions On The Rise and it would end no fault evictions that bill we urgently to get on with the renters Reform Bill which will give greater protections to those in rented accommodation but we will still have the problem that rents are rising way ahead of people's ability to pay and for them to fund it through benefits when they need to so it will help undoubtedly but it won't be a complete answer to the issue and it certainly won't address our desperate need to get more generally affordable homes for rent being built what are the repercussions if this government fails to act or if the next government could be a labor government fails to build enough houses once again I think its soaring costs of temporary accommodation and it's more human misery and more anxiety and uncertainty to people so it's a lose-lose situation here government loses out because it has to foot the bill and those involved lose out as well it really is essential that we have a much stronger program of building generally affordable homes and action now really to avoid people going into homelessness more action North Coast Lake thanks very much thank you

Channel: Channel 4 News

Views: 94,081

Keywords: Renting, housing, mould, damp, mice, fleas, family, local authorities, shelter, homeless, unhoused, house, accommodation, housing news, renting news, uk renting, channel 4 news, c4, c4 news

Id: TAVg28SYnJU

Length: 9min 0sec (540 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 11 2023