This week in the news: new data shows huge rise in number of families without a stable home

This week a variety of data has been released on homelessness within the UK, showing how both individuals and families are being affected by the housing crisis, as well as where the UK stands in comparison to other countries around the world in terms of the number of households experiencing homelessness. These figures not only lay bare the stark realities of the housing crisis, but underline the importance of ongoing work to provide people experiencing homelessness with safe housing and appropriate support, to continue towards breaking the cycle of homelessness.

Government figures released this week showed that in the last three months of 2023 nearly 45,000 households in England were assessed as homeless. This is a jump of 16% from the same period in 2022, where the number of households assessed as homeless was just under 39,000 (Gov.uk). The data also showed the scale of the effect of no-fault evictions, with figures showing that the number of people who were made homeless or threatened with homelessness in 2023 reached a record total of 25,910 (Gov.uk).

This increase has also been seen locally, with over 500 more households approaching the Local Authority for help with homelessness in 2023/24 than the previous year.

The figures have also shown that the number of people, including children, living in temporary accommodation hit record levels in 2023, triggering warnings of a housing ‘emergency’ (The Guardian). An investigation carried out by The News Agents scrutinised this worsening, with data showing that in 2024 nearly 140,000 children are homeless in England. Additionally, where temporary accommodation was once a short term solution, for many families a single hotel room is becoming a permanent home, which is having drastic effects on both children and families.

“We’re seeing families in Leicester trapped in emergency accommodation for much longer periods of time as they wait for a more permanent home. This type of housing was never designed to offer a long term home. The impact of this is particularly damaging for children, often living in one room with their parents and siblings, without adequate space to play, to do homework or get a restful night’s sleep. We must urgently find a better solution and work together to break the devastating cycle of homelessness for these families”

Eilidh Stringer, Funding and Communications Manager (Action Homeless)

All of this data is reflective of the UK’s standing in comparison to other countries when it comes to the proportion of people experiencing homelessness within the population, with 42.6 households out of 100,000 experiencing homelessness in 2023. This figure is higher than France, Germany, the USA and Australia (OECD).