London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – London councils pay £ 4 million a day on housing the homeless driving some to default.
London boroughs are paying £ 4 million every day for housing homeless people. The pooled average temporary accommodation bill for the capital’s councils was £114million each month in the year to April – a dramatic increase of 68 per cent. London’s Homelessness Emergency, a new writing published by the cross-party London Councils group, discovered that homelessness is at record levels and cautions that the current situation is “utterly unsustainable”.
Why are boroughs facing financial instability from housing costs?
The high cost of social care and private rents alongside a scathing number of social homes is causing some of London’s town halls to the verge of bankruptcy and forcing them to pursue emergency loans from the Government. Ahead of the Chancellor’s Budget in October, boroughs cautioned that soaring homelessness was the fastest-growing threat to boroughs’ financial stability and they are confronting a collective £700million funding hole next year.
How does homelessness impact Londoners’ health and well-being?
Waltham Forest leader and London Councils executive member for housing Grace Williams stated: “The homelessness crisis in the capital is nothing less than an emergency. London is the epicentre of a national emergency, we are wrestling with the most severe housing and homelessness pressures in the nation. Homelessness is an injustice and has a devastating effect on individuals and families, damaging Londoners’ health, well-being, and opportunities.”
Business leaders have also cautioned that unless something is done to make the capital’s housing more inexpensive and accessible, the city’s economy will take a hit.