Shelter claims the end of the eviction ban has contributed to creating over 274,000 people who are homeless in England right now, including 126,000 children.
Shelter’s interpretation of official rough-sleeping and temporary accommodation figures shows that one in every 206 people in England is currently without a home.
Of these, 2,700 people are sleeping rough on any given night, nearly 15,000 single people in direct access hostels and nearly 250,000 people are living in temporary accommodation – most of whom are families.
The campaigning charity’s latest fund-raising statement says that Covid protections such as the ‘Everyone In’ scheme, the eviction ban, and the boost to Universal Credit played a vital role in keeping people in their homes and supressing homelessness during the pandemic.
Now Shelter is warning with these protections gone, living costs soaring and another uncertain winter ahead, there is a risk of the flood gates reopening and thousands more people losing their homes.
Shelter is calling on the public to support its frontline workers who have been inundated with calls to its emergency helpline from people facing homelessness this winter.
The charity says it’s hearing from people who are facing a night on the streets in freezing conditions after being turned away from emergency accommodation. As well as thousands of families in dire straits living in grotty hostel rooms where parents and siblings are forced to share beds, and there are only communal facilities.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, says: “We predicted the pandemic would trigger a rising tide of evictions and our services are starting to see the reality of this now. We’re flooded with calls from families and people of all ages who are homeless or on the verge of losing their home.”
She continues: “It is shameful that 274,000 people are without a home, and with Covid protections now gone thousands more will be joining them. A shoddy hostel room or a freezing cold doorway is no place to wake up on Christmas morning, but sadly so many people will.
“This winter the work of our frontline staff is as critical as ever. Our emergency helpline advisers work 365 days a year, doing everything they can to help people find a safe and secure home.”
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Fund raising statement. Turning misery into a 6 figure salary. Shelter the charity ( business) that houses no one.
what about the poor landlords with no or hardly any rent coming in ?
So why have all these people now been evicted ? no landlord is going to be evicting good tenants who pay their rent on time, these are likely the ones who took advantage of the covid eviction ban and lived for free. all gone pear shaped for them now.
Shelter, you house them then all you ever do is knock and despise private landlords that house millions.
Polly, take a £70k pay cut and you’ll have £63k pay pa + any expenses that we are not privy to and still too much for someone making herself popular by doing a hatchet job on PRS.
Shelter either just don't get it or lie through their teeth.
Every rent dodger evicted releases a new home for decent rent paying tenants.
There is NO increase in homelessness - just replacement of a rent dodger by a decent formerly homeless tenant - which is exactly as it should be.
No landlord adds to homelessness by deliberately keeping properties empty but Shelter actually VICTIMISE decent tenants by helping rent dodgers evade eviction and delaying the availability of homes for rent payers.
''Don't get it or lie through their teeth'' the latter I think Robert .
Over the last 10 years I have bought 4 properties for people who either were homeless or who had had a Section 21 served and were soon to become homeless. In one case I bought the 4 bedroom house they were already living in. For the others I bought one or two bed flats or houses close to where they work. Those 3 properties are all at or below Housing Benefit level rent. I'm very proud of the fact these people now have long term secure housing in locations they want to live in.
I had hoped to do more of that type of letting but the eviction ban has put a stop to it. Although I have never needed to evict anyone it used to be nice to know I could. On rentals at that price point the margins are too small to be able to risk an eviction taking over a year.
Agree, very seldom we needed to use Section 21 because it was there and the Tenants knew you could take action if it came to that, take it away and see what happens we’ll be back like how it was before being introduced. Did someone say the best guide to the future is what happened in the past.
Quite agree Andrew , karma is a …..
Ever since they took away LL rights excluded him from the property, caused anti-Social behaviour, caused cannabis growing, caused overcrowding with licensing schemes reducing how many LL can have, so some tenants had a field day filling the capacity, many a house was built or bought by the occupants in foreign parts on the back of ths interference. Their actions also invented R2R the greatest scam of our time, any of didn’t exist before and now make more rules & laws to prosecute the victim.
So 205 out of every 206 people, approximately 99.6% of the population, DO have a home. And of the remaining, only 0.04% are sleeping rough. This is a housing 'crisis'?
Immigration, the elephant in the room. If you import millions of people (a lot of them un vetted). what do you expect. I have no doubt that Shelter know exactly what its REALLY like , but having an unsolvable problem is proving highly lucrative. Further having a condescending, patronising attitude and poking fun, at hardworking people sticking their neck out to house (often very unpleasant) people is aboslutely awful. But no doubt it makes these polly-ticians.feeel good at poncing off the homelesss.
Agreed, it's funny how these ''charities??'' and '' not for profit?? '' housing associations manage to pay their management 6 figure salaries + perks , stinks !!
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