A Gateshead homelessness charity has joined organisations from across the UK's housing and homelessness sector in calling for the next Prime Minister to fulfil the Conservative Party's pledge to end rough sleeping by 2024.
Gateshead -based charity Oasis Community Housing, Crisis and Shelter is among the 28 organisations to sign an open letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, urging them to take action on homelessness if elected as the next PM.
The letter, co-ordinated and sent by membership body Homeless Link on August 23, calls on the victorious leadership candidate to commit to meeting the Conservative manifesto commitment of ending rough sleeping in England by 2024 - and to publish a strategy by the end of 2022 outlining how they will achieve this.
Read more: 'People are going to die' – North East charity terrified by cost of living nightmare this winter
The letter comes at a time when inflation in the UK has risen to 10.1%, a 40-year high. The charities also point to private sector rents hitting record levels - and they're predicted to rise further.
Homelessness services are reporting an increase in people needing their services, with Government figures released earlier in August showing that 3,405 households in the private rented sector were evicted by bailiffs in England between April and June 2022 - up 39% on the previous quarter..
David Smith, CEO of Oasis Community Housing, which runs homelessness drop ins, same-day and supported accommodation across the North East of England and South London, said: "Our frontline teams are seeing high numbers of people coming through our doors – and the other week our Outreach team found six people sleeping rough in one night alone."
Mr Smith said he was concerned "homelessness is only going to get worse as the cost of living crisis continues".
Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, said: "Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss were elected on a Conservative party commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024, and yet, despite government figures showing homelessness increased by 11% in the first 3 months of this year, both leadership candidates have barely mentioned homelessness throughout their campaigns.
"It's vital that, when parliament returns next month, our new Prime Minister acts decisively to prevent a wave of homelessness. We hope that this letter, and the weight of concern it demonstrates from across the homelessness sector, will put the issue of homelessness back on their agenda, accelerating much needed reform of the private rented sector and setting out a clear plan to meet the target of ending rough sleeping by 2024."
In a statement, a spokesperson for Rishi Sunak's campaign said: "Rishi has been consistent on the need to do more to support the most vulnerable people in our society with the cost of living this winter. On rough sleeping, as Chancellor, he committed significant investment to progress the Government's commitments, bringing total funding to over £2bn over the spending review period." The Sunak campaign also highlighted that as Chancellor he had committed £11.5bn to "the largest cash investment in affordable housing in a decade".
A Liz Truss campaign insider told the Financial Times the Tory leadership frontrunner was “committed” to the manifesto pledge, adding that Truss "would look at the best way to achieve this as and when she gets into Downing Street".
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities added that rough sleeping had fallen across England and claimed this was at an "eight-year low". They added: “We have given councils £316 million to prevent homelessness on top of a £37 billion package to help households with rising costs, including £1,200 this year for the most vulnerable, helping them to pay their bills and stay in their homes.”
Read next:
