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The Independent
01-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
‘Awful April' bills rise will push people to poverty, homelessness and foodbanks, charities warn
Foodbank use and homelessness are set to rise, charities have warned as 'awful April' pushes up the cost of crucial bills, including energy and water, for millions of households across the country. People across the country are struggling to afford the bare essentials and with so many costs rising at once, from gas to council tax, has led to fresh calls for ministers to help limit the impact. From Tuesday, the annual average energy bill will go up by £111 a year, or £9.25 a month, to £1,849, after Ofgem raised the energy cap. Water bills are also set to soar by an average of 26 per cent, or £123 a year, in England and Wales, while council tax will rise by £108 a year on average, after ministers confirmed they would be allowed to increase by at most 5 per cent. Matt Downie, chief executive at Crisis, the housing charity, warned it was becoming 'even harder for people on low incomes to afford the basic essentials. This is leaving them dangerously exposed, forced into debt and in real danger of being pushed into homelessness as the cost of living crisis continues to bite.' Rachel Reeves' decision to freeze housing benefits from Tuesday in last October's Budget would also 'push people deeper into poverty and homelessness,' he added. Helen Barnard, director of policy at the charity the Trussell Trust, which provides food banks across the country said the problem was a 'perfect storm'. 'We know people are forced to turn to food banks when their income isn't enough to cover the cost of essentials we all need to get by - such as energy bills, food and toiletries,' she said. "From today, a range of household bills are going up by more than inflation while social security support rises by just 1.7 per cent, which will hit people living on the lowest incomes the hardest.' Joanna Elson, the chief executive of the Independent Age charity, said her organisation has spoken to many older people living on a low income who are very worried about rising energy, water and council tax bills. She warned: 'Many simply cannot afford the increases. This is resulting in people being forced to make dangerous cutbacks, including not using the heating or skipping meals.' Caroline Abraham, charity director at Age UK, added: 'Higher living costs are hitting every household, but we know that older people living on low or modest fixed incomes will find the increases especially hard. We're still hearing from thousands of older people struggling to afford the basics as everything keeps going up.' The Treasury has been approached for comment.
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Only 2.5% of private rentals in England affordable on housing benefit, study finds
Only 2.5% of private rented homes in England were affordable for people on housing benefit last year, with charities warning that more people will be pushed into rent arrears and homelessness as a freeze on the benefit takes effect. From Tuesday, housing benefit rates will be locked at current rates until 2026, affecting 5.7m households on low income which rely on it to cover rent. Research from the homelessness charity Crisis and the campaign group Health Equals found fewer than three in every 100 private rental properties listed in England were affordable for people on housing benefit between April and October 2024. This figure is down from 12% in 2021-22. Over the past decade, rents in the private sector have risen by 45% in England. Crisis said people on low incomes could be forced to sleep rough or pushed into poor quality temporary accommodation because of the growing gap between housing benefit and the cost of rent. Matt Downie, the charity's chief executive, said it was becoming an 'impossible situation' and that the freeze represented a real-terms cut. 'Housing benefit is supposed to cover the lowest third of rents in the private sector. We are currently nowhere near that,' he said. 'There is no doubt that today's freeze on housing benefit will lead to rising homelessness. It also risks completely overwhelming local authorities who are already struggling to cope with the demand for support, and will leave more people stuck in unfit temporary accommodation that damages their health and wellbeing.' The research found that, across Great Britain, 2.7% of private rented properties were affordable, and that households on housing benefit were being forced to find, on average, an additional £337 a month for a one-bed, £326 for a two-bed and £486 for a three-bed home. Downie urged the government to reverse the benefits freeze, saying it would 'undermine their efforts' to end homelessness and pile further pressure on local authorities, which spent £2.3bn a year on temporary accommodation for homeless families in 2023-24. In the 12 months to February 2025, average rent in England rose to £1,381. Meanwhile, 126,040 households in England are now in temporary accommodation, including more than 164,000 children – the highest levels on record. In the autumn budget, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced that the local housing allowance (LHA) – the localised rates that determine how much housing benefit claimants are entitled to – would be locked at current levels until 2026. LHA rates have been frozen periodically since 2016 – former Conservative governments froze it for seven out of 12 years, before increasing rates last year. Crisis and Health Equals said rising rents were pushing more families into poor-quality homes, often beset with problems such as cold and damp, adding that the financial impact of poor housing was costing the NHS an estimated £1.4bn a year. Paul McDonald, the chief campaigns officer at Health Equals, said: 'When people are forced to move house, sofa surf, live in temporary accommodation or cold, mouldy and overcrowded conditions, their health and wellbeing suffers. In the UK thousands of lives are already being cut short by up to 16 years by factors like poor quality and unaffordable housing.' A government spokesperson said: 'We have inherited the worst housing crisis in living memory with rent levels unaffordable for far too many. 'We're building 1.5m homes to improve affordability for renters and helping those on the lowest incomes pay their housing costs by extending the household support fund and maintaining discretionary housing payments. Alongside this, we recently announced a £2bn investment for up to 18,000 new social and affordable homes, while our renters' rights bill will fundamentally reform the private rented sector by empowering tenants to tackle unreasonable rent hikes.'
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The London boroughs with the most rough sleepers as number hits post-pandemic high
More people were sleeping rough on the streets of London last autumn, new estimates show. The Government's 'Everyone In' campaign aimed to eliminate homelessness and provided thousands of people with accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic. But numbers across England have soared following the pandemic, rising for the third successive year, a situation branded "unacceptable" by homelessness charities. Each year the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government conducts a national snapshot survey of rough sleeping on a specific night in autumn. The results, published this week, found there were 1,318 people sleeping rough in London, more than the year before, when there were 1,132 rough sleepers. This was also higher than in 2021 when the Government's 'Everyone In' programme was implemented, when there were 640. READ MORE: Cost of living warning for 7 major price rises coming in April 2025 READ MORE: UK's most tattooed mum 'unable to leave country' because of her look The borough with the most rough sleepers was Westminster, with 388 people sleeping rough. This figure was up from 187 in 2021. Westminster was followed by Camden (132) and the City of London (86). Nationally, the number of people estimated to be sleeping rough rose by 20 per cent last year to 4,667. This is the second-highest level on record, and almost twice the total in 2021. The count includes people sleeping outside, but does not cover sofa surfers, those in hostels or shelters, or people in recreational or traveller sites, and figures are generally considered to be an undercount of the true number. Matt Downie, chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis, said the figures "paint a desperate picture", with thousands "at significant risk of violence, extreme weather and even premature death". He said: "It's an emergency and it must spur action. The Westminster Government has a once in a generation opportunity to deliver transformative change through its upcoming strategy to end homelessness." He said ministers must commit to building more social homes and investing in housing benefit. Nationally, the number of women sleeping rough has increased by 20 per cent since last year, from 568 to 680, including 186 women in London. Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: "It is unacceptable that homelessness continues to rocket when the Government has the power to end it entirely. Homelessness has a simple solution – a safe, secure social rent home gives everyone the chance to succeed, but there's nowhere near enough." She continued: "If the Government is serious about tackling the housing emergency, we must see ambitious investment in social housing in June's Spending Review. Investing in 90,000 social rent homes a year for 10 years would give families a fighting chance and end homelessness for good." Minister for homelessness Rushanara Ali said the figures show the "devastating impact" of the housing crisis the Government inherited. She explained: "We're taking determined action to turn the tide and that's why this week this Government stepped in to double our emergency homelessness funding to £60 million as an immediate support for councils to keep people in their homes." She added: "This comes alongside the £1 billion we have already committed this year to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including the largest ever investment in preventative services, so we can put in place long-lasting solutions, not just sticking plasters, to end this crisis." Get the top stories from across London directly to your inbox. Sign up for MyLondon's The 12 HERE to get the biggest stories every day.
