A recent Waverley Council report identified that only a handful of homeless families were in the borough last quarter.
However, temporary accommodation spending threatens the future of districts’ councils elsewhere. But not in ‘Your Waverley.’
Homeless elsewhere in the country
Initial assessments were made for 358,370 households in England in 2023-24, up 10.4% from the previous year. Of these, 324,990 households were assessed as owed a homelessness duty, due to being threatened with homelessness or already being homeless in 2023-24. This increase from 2022-23 is driven by the increase in both households assessed as being threatened with homelessness, as well as households assessed as already homeless at the time of application.
Threatened with homelessness
146,430 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness and therefore owed a prevention duty in 2023-24. This is a 3.1% increase from 2022-23. The increase from 2022-23 has been influenced by a 4.6% increase, to 57,340 households, in those threatened with homelessness due to the end of an assured shorthold tenancy. Conversely, there was a 5.2% decrease in households owed a prevention duty due to family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate.
178,560 households were assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty in 2023-24. This is up 12.3% from 2022-23. Similar to increases in prevention duties, this also has been influenced by an 8.9% increase, to 22,160 households, in those threatened with homelessness due to the end of an assured short hold tenancy. There has also been a 4.8% increase in households owed a relief duty due to family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate.
Other notable changes in 2023-24 compared to the previous year include:
- Increase in households owed a prevention duty (up 113.9%) or a relief duty (up 251.2%) on being required to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support. This makes up 3% of prevention duties owed and 8% of relief duties owed. This increase relates to action to clear the backlog in asylum decisions, with households becoming eligible for homelessness assistance if granted refugee status.
- Increase in households owed a prevention duty (up 92.0%) or a relief duty (up 79.2%) due to rent arrears from an increase in rent, although this comprises less than 1% of households owed each type of duty.
Statutory homelessness statistics provide quarterly information about those local authorities who must accommodate them as they are homeless through no fault of their own, eligible for assistance, and have a ‘priority need’. This primarily includes those with children or a vulnerability, including disability or mental ill-health. It also includes information about new statutory duties created by the Homelessness Reduction Act to try and prevent and relieve homelessness for single people, regardless of priority need, or intentional homelessness.
Homeless young people on the streets of central Farnham are no longer a rare. site. Whose job to intervene?
Though this is difficult to believe, the performance of Waverley Housing suggests there must be some truth in it somewhere. There certainly seems to be no rush to let properties around my estate. My neighbour’s house – a 3 bedroom family house with a garden in central Farnham – has been empty for almost a year. The one two doors down took almost 8 months to let. Either there is no housing crisis locally – which is not credible – or they are very wasteful of public resources. I feel an FOI coming!