Industry News
Single parent families at higher risk of eviction
More than 70,000 lone-parent households are facing eviction in the early months of 2024 amid warnings that they are “bearing the brunt” of the housing crisis in England. A survey by Shelter found that one in seven
lone parents who rent privately (equivalent to more than 74,000 people and their children) are facing homelessness within weeks. Te housing charity found that one-parent
families were far more likely to fall behind on their rent or face so-called no-fault evictions than the wider population. Te survey, conducted by YouGov and
funded by the Nationwide Building Society, found that more than two in five single parents (41%) say they have borrowed money to pay their rent, compared with 27% of households without children. Almost 60% said that they feared
becoming homeless due to rising housing costs, compared with 40% of households without children.
Polly Neate, the chief executive of Shelter, said: “Private renting is broken and lone parents are bearing the brunt of the crisis. Decades of failure to build genuinely affordable social homes has meant that competition for rentals is fierce and the barriers to finding and keeping hold of a safe home are higher than ever.”
Neate said: “Wrangling runaway rents and
soaring living costs, all while trying to balance childcare and work is hard enough for all parents, but it’s made more so if you have to do a lot of it on your own.” Te number of private landlords
seeking to evict tenants through the courts has risen to a seven-year high, amid warnings that the use of no-fault evictions is “soaring out of control”.
NHF launches a plan to ‘fix the housing crisis’
T
he National Housing Federation has launched a new report ‘Let’s fix the housing crisis: delivering a long-term plan for
housing.’ With an election looming it is calling on all political parties to work with them to end the current housing emergency. In its introduction, the report says the housing
crisis is affecting our health, our life chances and our financial security. It is also holding back our economy and costing our country billions. It is breaking down our communities and driving families and keyworkers into financial hardship, away from work, schools and support networks. Specifically on housing it says there are 8.5m
people in England who cannot access the housing they need, which includes two million children in England living in overcrowded, unaffordable or unsuitable homes. Some groups of people are feeling the crisis more acutely with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic households and Disabled people more likely to experience homelessness or to live in poor quality, unsuitable or overcrowded homes. Te NHF says the housing crisis affects almost
everyone, but to really transform the system we need to focus on those at the sharpest end, and on the issues that are most acute for the economy. Te report lists these as: • people stuck in temporary accommodation with no chance to put down roots;
• families with no-where for children to play or do their homework;
• young people unable to get their first home; • people struggling to make ends meet as the cost of even the cheapest private housing takes up more and more of their income;
• people going without the support they need to live independently;
• people living in poor quality, expensive to heat homes;
• businesses struggling to stay afloat as poor housing options make it hard for people to stay in their communities or live near work; and
• regional economies held back because of the housing crisis.
With a long-term plan in place, by 2035 the NHF believes we could see the next Government achieve the following: End child homelessness: A record number of
children are homeless, forced to live in inadequate temporary accommodation, including bed and breakfasts. Tis disrupts their education, affects their life chances and puts huge pressure on families. Tis situation is also putting a huge and growing pressure on public finances and services, and risks bankrupting some local authorities. Te next Government needs to end this scandal.
14 | HMMFebruary/March 2024 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk Halve overcrowding: Children cannot thrive if
they do not have the space to learn, play and grow. More than 310,000 children in England are forced to share a bed with family members. Tis affects the mental and physical health of families. A long-term housing plan to halve overcrowding would improve the life chances of 1.8m people including almost a million children. Provide the security of a social home for one
million more people: A good quality, genuinely affordable, social rent home provides security and stability. But too oſten low and middle income families have no choice but to live in expensive and insecure accommodation in the private rented sector. High housing costs reduce their standard of living and force many to rely on benefits to make ends meet. Te Government can fix this with a plan to build the 90,000 new social homes we need every year to keep up with demand. It is not just about numbers. We will only reap the
benefits of more social homes if they are the right homes, built in the right location, with the right support for those who need it. Ensure a warm and decent home for seven
million more families: For many people, improving the safety, quality and energy efficiency of their current home will make a real difference to their health and wellbeing as well as playing a huge role in the transition to a net zero economy. Over the next 10 years that will mean completing necessary building safety remediation works and improving millions of homes, of all tenures, so they meet the new Decent Homes Standard, including energy efficiency standards. Improve affordability: High housing costs force
too many people into homes that are too small, far from their communities and too far from work. For decades, house prices have gone up by much more than wages, and rents are now at record levels leaving millions spending more and more of their income on housing. Te welfare system has not kept pace, pushing more people into poverty as a result of their housing costs. Millions more now face big increases in mortgage costs as interest rates have risen. With a long-term plan, the government should ensure that housing costs rise more slowly than incomes, so that housing becomes more affordable over time. Boost productivity by ensuring every region has the homes it needs to grow: Unaffordable and inadequate housing is holding back our economy. Across the UK, businesses and workers are struggling as the high cost and poor quality of housing is making it harder to attract and keep workers, run a successful company or build a fulfilling career. Integrate transportation networks with housing requirements, ensuring that every region can grow, and that there are places people can afford and want to live and work.
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