The homeless charity Crisis has published a comprehensive plan* for ending homelessness in a decade.
The charity estimates there are 236,000 homeless people in England, Scotland and Wales including those living in unsuitable temporary accommodation.
Earlier this year the housing charity Shelter reported that over 100,000 households had been on council housing waiting lists for more than 10 years. Over 1 million families are on social housing waiting lists.
In 2017-18 housing was a common problem for CARBS clients. Private renters were most affected – see chart.
Crisis proposes construction of 100,500 social homes a year for 15 years. We are pleased to note another of Crisis’s remedies: Better rights for private renters and a reform to housing benefit, to protect people once they have been housed.
Citizens Advice Reigate & Banstead joins the housing charities in urging government to take decisive action on a problem at the root of so many of society’s ills.
* Everybody in: How to end homelessness in Great Britain