{"id":16206,"date":"2021-02-03T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T14:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=16206"},"modified":"2023-10-16T17:40:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T21:40:56","slug":"united-kingdom-70000-households-made-homeless-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/united-kingdom-70000-households-made-homeless-during-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"United Kingdom: 70,000 Households Made Homeless During Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>In March last year, the United Kingdom\u2019s housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, tweeted that \u201cno one should lose their home as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Thank you <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Shelter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@Shelter<\/a> &#8211; no one should lose their home as a result of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/coronavirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#coronavirus<\/a> epidemic. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XZsWu1HV40\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/t.co\/XZsWu1HV40<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RobertJenrick\/status\/1243299372894486535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March 26, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Yet less than a year later, more than 70,000 households have been made homeless due to the pandemic. Additionally, tens of thousands more are threatened with homelessness.<\/p>\n<p>The UK government has made some significant changes in helping homeless people during the crisis, including their surprising and impressive \u201cEveryone In\u201d scheme at the start of the pandemic. Additionally, the government banned evictions for most of the last 11 months or so.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, the Observer\u2019s figures illustrate that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2021\/jan\/09\/70000-households-in-uk-made-homeless-during-pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">207,543 households faced<\/a> their local council for support with homelessness or the concern of it between the start of April 2020 and the end of November 2020.<\/p>\n<h3>The Threat of Homelessness<\/h3>\n<p>Of the 207,543 households that approached their local council for help with homelessness or the concern of it, 50,561 were \u201cowed the prevention duty.\u201d This means they were deemed to be threatened with homelessness. Then, 70,309 were \u201cowed the relief duty\u201d meaning they were already homeless.<\/p>\n<p>These figures are from the freedom of information data from 231 councils spanning April to November 2020, alongside published government data covering April to June 2020 for 78 boards that did not answer the FOI request.<\/p>\n<p>While the government froze evictions during the pandemic, many people became homeless because friends and family members stopped housing them. This may be due to a fear of catching COVID-19, especially if other household members are refusing to or are unable to social distance.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, there have been many illegal evictions, forcing people to spend lockdown on the streets. A combination of these illegal evictions, people being kicked out of families and friends&#8217; homes, lodgers under pressure to leave before removal, and tenants without protection, has led to hundreds of thousands of people experiencing homelessness in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>The labour party\u2019s shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire said, \u201cThe government promised nobody would lose their home because of coronavirus. These figures show that promise has been broken.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The \u2018Everyone In\u2019 Scheme<\/h3>\n<p>Activists have argued for the government to bring back the \u2018Everyone In\u2019 scheme. This measure saw rough sleepers housed in March during the pandemic&#8217;s first wave. Homeless people were quickly taken to self-contained accommodation, including private rooms of hotels and hostels unused due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Many applauded the move as extraordinary. It was considered a welcome surprise and an unusually bold course of action to help thousands of the UK\u2019s most vulnerable people during a crisis. An article in The Lancet estimated that the move prevented approximately 21,092 infections and 266 deaths. Evidently, the \u201cEveryone In\u201d scheme saved lives.<\/p>\n<p>However, the scheme didn\u2019t even last a year. In early June 2020, it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-52637283\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> that funding had been withdrawn. The UK government pointed to the \u00a33.2bn provided to local authorities to deal with the pandemic issues. However, it\u2019s argued that none of this figure was specifically given to address homelessness problems.<\/p>\n<p>In September 2020, \u00a391.5m of government funding was divided between 274 councils for each of their rough sleeping plans. And in December 2020, the government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/government-pledges-further-310-million-to-tackle-homelessness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pledged a further \u00a3310 million<\/a> to combat homelessness.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s still unclear how these actions will compare to the \u201cEveryone In\u201d scheme&#8217;s straightforward and effective approach. It\u2019s challenging to understand what has changed to make the provision of safe accommodation any less urgent for rough sleepers. If anything, the new, faster-spreading variant of COVID-19, which has hit the headlines in the UK and across the world, should make the urgency of safe accommodation even stronger.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the colder, winter months mean that the threat to rough sleepers isn\u2019t just from COVID-19, but from the dangerously low temperatures, too. Even without the risk of the pandemic, every winter sees a spike in avoidable deaths among rough sleepers as temperatures plummet.<\/p>\n<h3>The Government&#8217;s Pledge of a Further \u00a3310 Million to Tackle Homelessness<\/h3>\n<p>As mentioned, the UK government pledged a further \u00a3310 million to help combat homelessness. The funding is part of a total investment of more than \u00a3750 million to address homelessness in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the pledge, councils will receive extra government support to help prevent vulnerable people from becoming homeless. The money will be targeted at areas with high homeless populations, those at risk of homelessness, or those <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/englands-homelessness-hits-record-high-for-households-residing-in-temporary-accommodations\/\">residing in temporary accommodation<\/a> to help people rebuild their lives.<\/p>\n<p>The pledge includes a \u00a347 million increase this year. These funds will also be used to offer financial help for people in finding new homes, working with landlords to prevent evictions, or offering temporary accommodation so families have a safe roof over their heads.<\/p>\n<p>The pledge also claims to build on the \u201cEveryone In\u201d scheme, yet it doesn\u2019t explain how. Nor does the pledge mention anything else linking directly to COVID-19 and the effects it has on the vulnerable people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the recent high figures of homelessness, the pledge states that of the 29,000 vulnerable people supported by the \u201cEveryone In\u201d scheme, two-thirds have moved into safe and settled accommodation.<\/p>\n<h3>What Must the Government Do Next?<\/h3>\n<p>Instead of making last-minute U-turns and changes, the government needs to offer long-lasting and reliable support to renters. They must also crackdown on illegal evictions to make sure people don\u2019t spend lockdown on the streets.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of protecting the interests of landlords, the government must prioritize the needs of working people and place an indefinite eviction ban for the duration of the pandemic. All COVID-related rent debt should be waived, and lodgers must be protected against eviction to ensure this growing homelessness problem doesn\u2019t continue.<\/p>\n<p>Just as they were during the pandemic&#8217;s beginning, people experiencing homelessness on the streets should be taken into safe and secure accommodation. This will protect them against the winter cold and from the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the question is, will the government really help thousands of people currently experiencing homelessness in the UK? And if so, with what urgency? Can we prevent people who have never been on the brink of homelessness from falling into it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In March last year, the United Kingdom\u2019s housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, tweeted that \u201cno one should lose their home as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.\u201d Thank you @Shelter &#8211; no one should lose their home as a result of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/united-kingdom-70000-households-made-homeless-during-pandemic\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":16207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,14097],"tags":[13939,14833,16082,16081,15954,253,832,515,508,13938,666,442],"coauthors":[14479],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16206"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22268,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16206\/revisions\/22268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16206"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=16206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}