At least 56,000 primary school children in England will spend Christmas homeless, according to new figures that show that one in nine pupils in some London primary schools don’t have a place to live.
Ministry of Housing data obtained and analysed by charity Shelter found that in London at least one in 24 primary school children are living in temporary accommodation, with the group’s chief executive, Polly Neate, using the figures to urge the government to accelarate the contrustruction of social housing rentals.
“It’s heartbreaking that one in three primary school classrooms include a child who will spend this Christmas homeless,” Ms Neate said.
Analysis of government figures by Shelter shows that there are 56,056 children aged 5-11 living in temporary accommodation in England. According to census figures there are 4.7 children in England in that age bracket.
A record number of 123,100 households are living in temporary accommodation, such as hotels and short-term flats, including almost 160,000 children, government stats show.
According to Shelter’s analysis, in Newham, east London, there are 61 children - or one in nine - who are homeless in every primary school. In Birmingham, there is the equivalent of 15 children who are homeless in every school.
The analysis comes as the government announces almost £1bn of new funding for English councils to tackle and reduce homelessness.
The Ministry of Housing has promised more resources for frontline services supporting rough sleepers and more funding for councils to help homeless families in temporary accommodation.
Deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, Angela Rayner said 160,000 children faced spending Christmas without a stable home. “I am determined to break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and get back on track to ending it for good,” she said.
“This largest-ever investment marks a turning point, giving councils the tools they need to act quickly and put in place support for people to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness. It’s time to turn the tide.”
The charity said one mother, Fauzia, 44, was made homeless with her husband and three children by a no-fault Section 21 eviction seven years ago. They are now living in temporary accommodation in Ealing and face long journeys each day to get to school in Waltham Cross on the other side of London.
She said that there was serious disrepair at their home, including raw sewage backflowing into the bathroom sink, and damp and mould in the flat. “There are so many problems - the house is freezing cold and poor plumbing leads the toilet to flood every day. It took weeks for the agency to fix it, only for it to break down again,” said Fauzia, who only provided her first name.
“The journey to get my children to school is killing me. My back hurts and we’re constantly late because our accommodation is so far away. It ends up being such a long day for them. When we finally get home, there’s barely enough time for them to eat dinner and have a bath.”
