Boris Johnson oversees 39% increase in London homelessness

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Local Government

London Mayor Boris Johnson has overseen a 39% increase in homelessness in the first three months of 2012 compared with the first quarter of 2011, new figures have confirmed.

The 39% increase relates to those who have declared themselves homeless.

The number of homeless people who have actually been given accommodation rose slightly too, from 35,850 to 36,740.

After missing his target of halving the number of homeless families stuck in temporary accommodation, Johnson has now overseen the first rise for seven years. This includes 1,880 households living in B&Bs, up 41% from last year.

A rising cause of homelessness is private rented tenancies coming to an end, causing 19% of cases from January to March 2012. Private tenants in the UK have among the weakest protections in Europe. The Mayor has so far opposed reforms to the regulation of private rented housing.

London Assembly Green Party Member Darren Johnson said: “The Mayor has failed to recognise that private rented housing is simply too expensive and insecure in London. The tragic consequence is that more people are unable to keep a stable home and are ending up living in sheds, sleeping on friends’ sofas or stuck in B&Bs.

“The Mayor’s aims of halving the number of people who are homeless and of ending rough sleeping are distant dreams if things continue in this direction. Nothing less than a radical change to private rented housing will do.”

A spokesman for the Mayor, said: "Government statistics show that the number of households in temporary accommodation has fallen significantly since 2008 - from around 54,000 to 36,800 at the end of March this year.

"The number of households accepted as homeless had been steadily falling since the Mayor came into office and remains lower than it was in 2007/8. While there has been a small rise in temporary accommodation use in London over the past 12 months, this increase is one of the lowest in the country and numbers are lower now than they were two years ago.

"The Mayor is acutely aware of the housing challenges that Londoners face, which is why he has committed to delivering a record 100,000 affordable homes by 2015."