Dozens of homeless families were moved out of hotels to make room for tourists' Six Nations bookings, it has been revealed. During the two weekends when home matches were hosted in Cardiff this year, families and individuals without a permanent home were moved out of the city in a move described as "appalling" by a homelessness charity.
It was reported by the Cardiffian in January that families being put up in hotels were at risk of being moved out during the tournament to accommodate bookings on Six Nations weekends. Now, a Freedom of Information request has confirmed that this went ahead and revealed the number of families moved.
For the weekend including February 4 (the Wales v Ireland game), 13 families comprising 52 individuals needed to move out of Cardiff due to the game. For the weekend including February 25 (the Wales v England game), 28 families comprising 103 individuals needed to move out of Cardiff due to the game.
Cardiff council said it was dealing with an "unprecedented increase" in the number of homeless presentations and pressures on available temporary accommodation over recent months leading to the use of hotels.
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Ruth Power, CEO of Shelter Cymru, said this was "no way to treat people". She said: "It’s appalling that so many people in Cardiff were forced to move out of their temporary accommodation during the Six Nations. Life in temporary accommodation is stressful enough without having to pack up your life at short notice to make way for tourists.
"What kind of message does that send to people experiencing homelessness? It is no way to treat people, and it is deeply concerning that Welsh councils are finding themselves at the beck and call of those hotels that are providing temporary accommodation.
"We have a housing emergency in Wales, and a severe lack of homes that people can afford. This means that people who are going through homelessness are having to spend far too long in hotels, B&Bs, and other forms of temporary accommodation."
She continued: "Councils across Wales are heavily dependent on local hotels, but room availability and costs are affected when big events are taking place. If the hotels decide they want to move people out for the weekend, councils don’t have much say in the matter.
"We need a massive social housebuilding programme to help people avoid the stress and trauma of having no settled home. It’s good that Cardiff Council has got ambitious plans to build social housing – we need those homes, and more social homes across urban and rural Wales, delivered as soon as possible. People need them now."
The FOI response also confirmed the families moved out were placed into a mixture of "temporary/supported accommodation" or "alternative hotels/holiday lets," adding: "Some households also chose to stay with family and friends over the weekend."
Responding to the data, a spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: "Due to an unprecedented increase in the number of homeless presentations and pressures on availability of temporary accommodation, over recent months, the Council has been utilising hotels in the city to accommodate homeless households.
"During the Six Nations tournament, some families were temporarily moved to alternative accommodation for a short period to enable the hotels we are working with to honour existing bookings. For all those affected, the Council provided transport to and from the alternative accommodation and subsidised food costs where cooking facilities weren’t available.
"Support staff were available at the alternative hotels used and families were provided with accommodation back in Cardiff as soon as was possible.
"We are grateful to the families involved for their patience and any inconvenience caused by this temporary move. We are working hard and exploring every opportunity to find a more a permanent housing solution for all those currently in hotels and the rest of the city’s temporary accommodation.
"To help alleviate pressures, we are embarking on innovative modular housing schemes that provide a more immediate response to the housing shortage, while we continue to build more good quality, sustainable council homes across the city via our ambitious development programme."
Homelessness has a wide definition under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, and it is understood that all those temporarily housed in the hotels would have been there under homelessness legislation. According to the Welsh Government, the act means a person is homeless if they, together with anyone who normally resides with them, have no accommodation in the UK or elsewhere which they have a legal right to occupy.
It says: "A person is also homeless if he or she has accommodation but cannot secure entry to it, or the accommodation is a moveable structure, vehicle or vessel adapted for human habitation (such as a caravan or houseboat) and there is no place where it can be placed in order to provide accommodation."
According to the act, it isn't considered reasonable for a person to occupy accommodation if it is probable to lead to this person, or someone in their household, being subjected to abuse.
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