Pregnant women living with cockroaches in their houses.
Unprecedented numbers sleeping on the streets of the city.
More and more middle income families facing imminent homelessness.
This is the reality of the cost of living crisis in Liverpool as the city and its residents prepare to head into a winter of pain and misery.
Yesterday Liverpool City Council held an emergency crisis meeting which pulled together organisations and agencies from across the city. The summit heard harrowing stories and details of what many in Liverpool are dealing with right now - and the extreme challenges ahead.
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Speaking at the meeting, David Carter, the chief executive of the Whitechapel homelessness charity said that on Thursday morning there were 42 people sleeping on the streets of Liverpool. He added: "That number is now regularly between 25 to 45, these numbers are unprecedented and don't even reflect the full reality as many people are currently 'sofa surfing'."
He said more and more people are coming to the charity in crisis but that the "availability just isn't there" in terms of housing.
Housing was a key theme of today's crisis summit, with soaring rents and other costs meaning many in the city are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. Others are living in squalid conditions.
Debbie Nolan from Citizens Advice Liverpool spoke of pregnant women living in horrific housing. She said: "I can't think of a more vulnerable group of people and yet we have pregnant women in this city living in damp, overcrowded houses that are unfit for human habitation. There are women living in houses with cockroach infestations. These are the sorts of conditions we haven't seen for 40 years."
Speaking about the all consuming crisis in the city, Cllr Sarah Doyle, the council's cabinet member for housing added: "We are seeing more and more people coming to us because they simply cannot pay their rent. These people are quickly ending up on the doorstep of homelessness services."
She added: "The demographic of the people in this situation is rapidly changing. Many are middle income people who work full-time and have never been on benefits before. For these people to find themselves suddenly engaging with homelessness services is scary."
An overview of how rising inflation and energy costs has impacted people this year in Liverpool was provided by the council's officer for revenue and benefits Bernie Davies.
He showed that in the second quarter of 2022/23 there were 11,536 applications received for the council's citizen support scheme at a cost of £2,176,257. This compares with 8,942 applications in the same quarter the year before, which came at a cost of £1,752,616. The last quarter of this year also saw a 28% increase in referrals to the council's benefits maximisation team - from people who can no longer cover the costs of food and rent with their benefit payments.
Other organisations spoke of the pressure they are feeling as more and more people across the city come to them in crisis and desperate for help.
Bronwen Rapley, chief executive of social housing provider Onward Homes said her organisation is "inundated" with calls from people seeking help. She added: "We are helping people with things like furniture or to fight evictions every day - but the calls keep on coming."
The meeting also heard about a centre set up to support struggling children in the city, which is now seeing 180 kids turn up each day and will soon have to start turning people away.
The purpose of the meeting was for the various organisations and agencies to agree to work even more closely together as a unifying force in the fight against the crisis facing the city.
With a joint voice, there will be a motion put to the government calling for urgent help and support for those facing destitution. Outlining the motion, Cllr Sarah Doyle said: "We will look to pass a motion that calls on the government to force private landlords and letting agents to reverse rent increases and give councils the power to set rent caps, we will also call for a ban on winter evictions."
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