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London’s homeless families are being forced out of the capital (19 April 2017)

Date: 19/04/2017
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, London’s homeless families are being forced out of the capital

Homeless families in London are receiving offers to be housed as far away as Birmingham despite disruptions to jobs and schools. Councils often give families only 24 hours to accept, and if they fail to, the council will withdraw support on the basis that the family have become “intentionally homeless” leaving families ineligible for further help.

This is a position that many deem preferable than leaving their local community against their will, leaving many families reportedly sleeping on relatives’ floors.

Earlier in April, figures from Local Councils showed that the number of homeless London families placed in temporary accommodation outside of London has increased five-fold since 2012. Due to soaring property prices in London. Kate Webb, head of policy at Shelter, explained that councils are forced to look for accommodation in cheaper areas outside of the capital as a result of a lack of affording and suitable housing within their local area.

As a result of these non-London housing offers made to homeless families in London, other areas are beginning to suffer. In March, the Birmingham Mail reported that, due to London councils using up scarce housing, the Birmingham City Council has had to move local homeless families out of the city. Furthermore, families being moved from London to Birmingham will place an additional strain on the city’s schools and other services and resources.

Despite several families rejecting offers of housing outside of London, councils continue to make these final offers suggesting that councils are prioritising reducing the size of the statutorily homeless list, as opposed to meeting the needs of families. For example, it was reported that Brent Council offered a private rented property in Telford, Shropshire, to 11 homeless families in London over a 12 month period. All 11 families refused the three bedroom property; 9 of the families had members employed in the capital and all of the families had at least 2 families in local schools.

Elizabeth Wyatt of Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) expressed concern at Brent council’s failure to acknowledge the unsuitability of the property in Telford. Wyatt stated:

“This is not a council trying to house homeless families, but one that is trying to end any responsibility it has towards homeless families as efficiently as possible.”

Abigail Tumfo and her children were placed in a studio apartment in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, by Waltham Forest Council following being evicted from her own property due to the landlord not wanting children in his property. As a result, Tumfo’s support network of family and friends has been stripped away from her, and Tumfo has been in Hertfordshire for 3 years with little indication that the council will work to move her back to London. Not only are Tumfo and her children alienated from their friends and family, they are living in accommodation that is in poor shape, shared with disruptive residents, and Tumfo has to spend a great deal of her income on her cost of commuting to London for work. This demonstrates that the far-away housing offered by the councils does not necessarily bring an improvement to the quality of life of homeless families of London.

Asif Anwar of Duncan Lewis Solicitors comments:

“With the growing number of people now being housed outside of London, the Council must ensure that they look at each referral on its own merits. A blanket approach of referring all applicants outside of London can be detrimental. This is particularly true of vulnerable applicants who may be heavily dependent on a particular area because of their local connections”.

Author Asif Anwar is a Trainee Solicitor. Asif mainly assists vulnerable client in their Homelessness, Disrepair, Possession and other housing law matters. He is highly committed to providing upstanding legal assistance to each of his clients. He appreciates that each client’s matter is unique and deserves the utmost diligence, care and attention.

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