16 March 2007
Homelessness is continuing to fall, with the number of families in temporary accommodation below 90,000 for the first time in three years.
Figures published on March 12 show that 89,510 households were registered as homeless in the final quarter of 2006 – down by 9% on the same period the previous year.
The number of families accepted by local authorities as homeless in the past quarter was 17,310, the lowest quarterly figure since the early 1980s.
Homelessness has been falling for more than a year, after reaching a peak of just over 100,000 in 2005.
Adam Sampson, chief executive of the charity Shelter, said: 'Any drop in new cases of homelessness is to be welcomed, provided it is brought about by genuine work to prevent people from losing their homes in the first place.'
Last week housing minister Yvette Cooper announced further measures to tackle youth homelessness, including new centres of excellence in regions where councils have made progress in tackling the problem.
YMCA England is joining forces with Centrepoint to set up a national youth homelessness scheme, while Shelter and the Citizens Advice Bureaux are to run a national advice service. More than a third of new homelessness cases last year involved under-25s.
Voluntary organisations are receiving an extra £16m for preventative work.
A report this week commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation emphasises that homelessness remains a serious problem. The report, by Professor Duncan Maclennan, states that new housing provision for low-income households still lies well below the output in the mid-1990s, while homelessness and housing needs 'remain resolutely high'.
PFmar2007
