LGA responds to Centrepoint report on young people and homelessness

Responding to Centrepoint’s report on Young People and Homelessness, Cllr Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s Housing spokesman, said:

“Councils understand that every single person experiencing homelessness is facing an individual tragedy, and are determined to protect residents, especially young people, by preventing homelessness from happening in the first place.

“Local authorities do all they can to support homeless people in their communities into appropriate accommodation as quickly and as effectively as possible, but the reality is that demand for this support is growing, at the same time as councils face significant funding pressures.

“Councils are currently housing more than 77,000 homeless families with in excess of 120,000 homeless children in temporary accommodation. Whilst they are doing all they can to help families facing homelessness it’s essential that the new Homelessness Reduction Act duties on councils are fully funded.

“We also need to see the full range of public bodies to cooperate with councils in addressing homelessness, and in the long term, it’s crucial that all councils are able to borrow to build new homes and adapt welfare reforms to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.”