Thousands of children are living in temporary accommodation in Southwark, a new homelessness report has revealed.
The homelessness charity Shelter found 2,784 children are living in temporary accommodation in Southwark – the ninth worst of London’s boroughs.
While Southwark’s homelessness per person rate is the eighth worst in England, with a staggering 1 in 46 people not having a stable home.
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Shelter’s homelessness stats include people living in temporary accommodation, social services accommodation, hostels, as well as on the streets.
According to the report, ten people slept rough on Southwark’s streets on any given night in 2022.
But Shelter says this is “widely considered to be an underestimate” because people sleep in concealed locations and often prefer to bed down on public transport.
The Prince of Wales today visited @DepaulUK's London hub to highlight the work they do to help young people experiencing homelessness or insecure housing.
? https://t.co/tDBVYiPeQv https://t.co/GUfeVCu3Xp
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 19, 2023
Cllr Victor Chamberlain, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition in Southwark, said he blamed “Labour’s pitifu” record on building council homes.”
“These shocking findings from Shelter show the extent of the hardship being faced by so many in our Borough. Labour must accept this is a crisis of their own making,” he said.
He said Labour should have backed the Lib Dem’s “radical” policy of requiring all new housing developments to contain 50 per cent affordable housing.
He added: “Building a pitiful 166 council homes in four years and only bringing 0.5 per cent of the 2,700 long-term empty homes back into use.”
In 2021, Southwark Council adopted an ‘empty homes action plan’. They pledged to use mechanisms such as Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) and Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to forcibly take possession of empty homes.