New analysis today
(15th
December) from the Labour Party
suggests that thousands are facing homelessness this Christmas,
with over 5,000 households estimated to be at risk of losing
their home in the final quarter of this year.
This comes as Labour’s Deputy Leader
and Shadow Housing Secretary, , and Shadow Minister for
Homelessness, , prepare to visit one of
Crisis’ Skylight centres in the capital next week, where they
will learn more about the charity’s work towards ending
homelessness for good.
This Christmas, Crisis will
be providing accommodation to over 590
people who would otherwise be sleeping rough in London, as well
as opening three daycentres for hundreds of people stuck in
insecure accommodation - such as hostels and
B&Bs. Through their
year-round services, hotels and health and wellbeing programmes,
Crisis expects to help over 7,000 people facing homelessness in
Britain this Christmas.
Responding to the findings
Matt Downie, Crisis Chief Executive, said:
“Christmas should be a time of
celebration, but instead thousands of people will be experiencing
homelessness, while others on the brink will be wondering if this
Christmas will be the last in their own home.
“Through our services, we see how the
lack of security for renters is driving up homelessness. Day in
day out, we witness the emotional and financial toll it has on
people. What’s more, the severe shortage of affordable housing
means that people who are served an eviction notice often
struggle to find somewhere else they can afford. It cannot be
understated the immense stress this causes people, as they face
the very real prospect of being thrust into homelessness.
“Scrapping no fault evictions cannot
come soon enough, but ultimately we need the next government to
commit to tackling the root causes of homelessness if we want
to end it for good.
“This Christmas, we’ll once again be
doing all we can to support people as they start their journey out of homelessness
- offering warmth,
companionship and vital support through both our Christmas and
year-round services. We look forward to welcoming Angela and Mike
into our Skylight centre next week, so they can learn more about
our work and hear from the people we support, as only by working
together will we end homelessness for good.”
