Industry News


Rough sleeping drops by almost 10 per cent


stand at ten per cent below their recent peak. The single-night snapshot figures from the


O


Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government estimated that 4,266 people had slept rough on a single night in the autumn of 2019, down by nine per cent on the 4,677 counted over same period in 2018 and down 10 per cent from the peak of 4,751 in 2017. However, the figures are a staggering 141 per cent


higher than ten years ago when at the start of 2010, it was estimated that 1,768 people were sleeping rough. In response the Government announced £236


million in extra funding to tackle rough sleeping and appointed Dame Louise Casey as an independent advisor to lead an urgent review into the causes of rough sleeping. The new money will go towards offering Housing


First-style ‘move on’ accommodation for up to 6,000 rough sleepers and those most at risk of rough sleeping. Chartered Institute of Housing director of policy


James Prestwich said: "While it’s welcome news that the Government has announced extra funding to help people who are sleeping rough in England, it remains completely unacceptable that in one of the wealthiest countries in the world more than 4,000 people are forced into sleeping on our streets. "And these figures only represent a single-night


snapshot and are therefore unlikely to represent the full extent of the problem, while many more people are forced to ‘sofa surf’ or live in unsuitable accommodation.


A WIDER PROBLEM "Rough sleeping is a symptom of wider problems, including a shortage of genuinely affordable housing and a welfare system that no longer supports people on low incomes to meet their housing costs. "We need to see a cross-governmental


approach to end the scourge of rough sleeping,


fficial figures for the number of rough sleepers on England’s streets has fallen for the second year in a row and they now


including financial support for homes at social rents, good quality supported housing and a review of the impact of welfare policies on meeting the government’s stated objective of ending the national shame of rough sleeping." The number of people sleeping rough in London


also fell for the first time in six years, according to the single night count figures, with 1,136 people estimated to be sleeping rough, down by 147 (11 per cent) since the previous year. The South West of England was the only region


where there was notable increase in the number of people sleeping rough, all other regions were broadly similar or decreased, with the number


decreasing the most in London and the West Midlands. Catherine Ryder, Director of Policy and Research


at the National Housing Federation said: “Rough sleeping is the sharp and visible edge of the housing crisis, but we have a huge hidden homeless problem in England too, with thousands of families living in temporary accommodation. “While getting people off the streets into


accommodation is an urgent priority, we also need to see long-term, ring-fenced support funding to prevent homelessness beyond the end of the parliamentary term. We also need to see an ambitious commitment from the Government to build affordable homes for social rent”.


Rogue landlord database update


The limitations of the rogue landlords’ database have been revealed in an exchange of communications with the Ministry of Housing. Luke Pollard MP (Labour, Plymouth Sutton and


Devonport) submitted a written question asking how many names were on the Rogue Landlords


Database as of 1 March 2020. The Housing Minister, Christopher Pincher


MP, responded: “There were 25 entries and 24 names on the database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents as of 1 March 2020.”


The database was hailed at the time of


its introduction as a vital tool in combatting poor property standards and bad behaviour by private landlords, however, it has been beset with problems over difficulties in accessing it and lack of transparency.


www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM April/May 2020 | 15


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44