Shelter figures released today confirm that Newham is facing the brunt of the housing crisis, reinforcing why the Mayor of Newham has put tackling it at the top of her priorities.
The figures are compiled by looking at the number of households in temporary accommodation and the number of street homeless people per local authority area. In Newham, the figures show 14,535 homeless households in temporary accommodation and 76 street homeless people. This is the highest level of homelessness in the country.
Last week the Mayor revealed an ambitious Housing Delivery Statement revealing how she is going to transform housing in Newham by building thousands of desperately needed genuinely affordable homes in the borough and challenging the government on damaging policies such as Right to Buy.
Mayor Fiaz said: “These figures demonstrate the desperate extent of the challenge we are facing in Newham and I am determined to tackle this. It is not acceptable that the levels of homelessness are so high in Newham and that every night over 70 people are bedding down on our streets. Since becoming Mayor, I have accelerated the work of the council to help those who have fallen victim to the government’s housing crisis by implementing a new approach. However, it is important to remember that this situation has not been created by the policies of the council. It is the tragic result of central government’s relentless austerity drive, their attack on social housing and cuts to local government grants.
“I am working hard to battle against this and we are already seeing results which will make a significant, tangible difference to homeless people’s lives. Using a grant we successfully bid for of £1.9m we have already transformed rough sleeping services, introducing a range of schemes focusing on compassion and care which has resulted in 79 homeless people helped off the streets. They are also sign posted to long term solutions such as Housing First which helps with deposits to access private rented sector accommodation.
“My Housing Delivery Statement presents an innovative approach which will genuinely improve residents lives for the better, putting them at the heart of delivery and focusing on building thousands of genuinely affordable homes. I promised I would build 1,000 council homes in four years and the first 100 of these are already in the pipeline, with work due to start soon. We have also received the highest grant of any London council - £107 million – for affordable housing from the Mayor of London. However, we must not be complacent – I will continue to put housing as one of my top priorities to tackle the housing crisis head on.”