For millions of people, the capital is simply home. Yet for an ever-increasing number of Londoners, it is one without a place to live. A report by London Councils lays bare the crisis on our doorsteps, with more than 183,000 Londoners estimated to be homeless and living in temporary accommodation. This represents an extraordinary one in every 50 people, the highest-ever level.
Statistics often lack the power to shock, but consider that the figure above includes nearly 90,000 children. London Councils estimates that is is equivalent to one out of every 21 children living in the city. That means that, on average, there is at least one homeless child in every London classroom.
Yet the situation is getting worse, not better. Rough sleeping in the capital has risen 58 per cent in the last 10 years, while the number of families placed in bed and breakfasts by London boroughs in the past two years has soared by 662 per cent. And this is also having an unbearable toll on local authority finances when they can least afford it.
London’s boroughs in total spent £4 million each day on temporary accommodation for homeless residents. Newham council is among those proposing a string of extreme cost cutting measures as a result of its temporary housing bill. This year alone, the borough expects an overspend of £47 million, of which £31 million is for housing homeless families.
The root cause of the crisis will surprise neither tenants nor policymakers. The soaring cost of rent, up by 20 per cent on pre-Covid levels, exacerbated by a substantial fall in supply. And it risks hollowing out the capital, turning into a place that only the well-off, or those without children, can afford to live. And what kind of a global city is that?
Money is tight – the Chancellor could scarcely have made that more clear. But it must be a priority to ensure that all Londoners have a safe place to live. The Government should closely examine the recommendations in the report, including greater funding for homelessness prevention and a cross-departmental strategy on homelessness. Without urgent action, the situation is only likely to deteriorate further still.
