A rising number of young people are facing homelessness

MORE than a thousand young people in Leicestershire faced homelessness last year - and the number is soaring.

New research from youth homelessness charity Centrepoint has revealed that at least 1,097 young people in the area approached their council in 2019/20 because they were homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The figures are based on Freedom of Information requests, and provide the only accurate measure of the scale of youth homelessness in the UK.

Blaby and Hinckley and Bosworth did not provide data for 2019/20, meaning the true scale of youth homelessness in Leicestershire is likely far greater.

Meanwhile, Oadby and Wigston did not provide data for 2018/19.

Across the remaining five councils in the area that provided figures for both years, the number of 16-24 year olds facing homelessness rocketed from 786 in 2018/19 to 1,054 in the last year.

Centrepoint warns that the Covid19 pandemic and its economic fallout will mean another significant increase next year is “inevitable”.

The charity’s Helpline has seen a stark increase in calls in the last few months, many from young people forced to sleep rough.

Paul Noblet, Centrepoint’s head of public affairs, said: “Our research shows the scale of youth homelessness was increasing even before the pandemic.

“The events of the last few months make a further dramatic increase inevitable.

“The fact is that most local authorities are already not financially equipped to deal with a surge in demand for support.

“We’ve heard from dozens of young people who are no longer able to sofa surf due to social distancing laws.

“Some have been told to sleep rough in order to ‘prove’ their homelessness in order to qualify for support, and some are left to choose between inappropriate all-age shelters or a night on the streets.

“That means central government providing the financial backing local authorities need year after year in order to not only support those without a safe place to stay this Christmas but also to prevent young people becoming homeless in the future.”

The figures also reveal the experience of young people who approach their council for help with homelessness - with many not getting the support they are entitled to.

Under the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) 2017, anyone going to their local authority for help should receive a full assessment to determine if they are eligible for certain support.

As well as missing figures from Blaby and Hinckley and Bosworth, Melton council also did not provide data on assessments.

However, of the 1,011 young people elsewhere in Leicestershire who went to their council in 2019/20, only 955 received this assessment - meaning dozens were not even evaluated to see if they were owed help.

Of those that were, almost all were found eligible and were offered support from their council - 953 in total.

However, of that number, only 621 received a positive outcome, for example homelessness being prevented or relieved.

It means that overall, more than one in three young people who presented themselves for help did not end up receiving a successful intervention from the council.

Centrepoint says that the concerning truth is that they don’t know what happened to most of these young people.

Some of them will have disengaged from the process (for example, stopped turning up to meetings with the council), and in the best case scenario, some may have managed to resolve their homelessness on their own.

But unfortunately, in many cases they will have gone through the process, but attempts to help them access their own accommodation failed.

If they are not then eligible for accommodation from the council - which is only offered if they are in “priority need”, for example if they have dependent children - they will be left homeless.

An MHCLG spokesperson said: “We’re investing £700 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year alone and our Homelessness Reduction Act has helped over 270,000 households who were homeless or at risk of homelessness into more permanent accommodation, since it came into force in 2018.

“During the pandemic, we’ve taken unprecedented action to prevent people getting into financial hardship by helping businesses to pay salaries, boosting the welfare safety net and extending furlough.

“We’ve also changed the law to put in place 6-month notice periods and banning the enforcement of evictions except in the most serious cases until the New Year.

“Our work is ongoing and the Spending Review provides an additional £254 million funding to help tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping altogether.”