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A household became homeless every 4 minutes in England in the last year

Posted 19 Sep 2019

The latest figures show: 

  • A household became homeless every 4 minutes in England in the last year (April 2018 to March 2019) 

  • A new generation of young people and families are being hit by our housing emergency. 56,440 young people aged 16 to 24 became homeless or threatened with homelessness in the last year.  

  • Young people are disproportionately affected by homelessness – they represent a fifth (21%) of all applicants found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness in the last year, but make up just 14% of the general population 

  • 28% of households found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness were living in a private rented home – this is the most common type of accommodation to live in at the time of applying for homelessness support. 

  • 22% of households found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness lost their last settled home due to the ending of a private rented tenancy. 

  • More than a quarter (27%) of applicants owed a homelessness duty are in work 

Polly Neate, chief executive at Shelter, said: “During a year where Brexit negotiations have totally dominated the political agenda, catastrophic numbers of people have become homeless. While the housing crisis is out of the spotlight, families with young children are trapped in grim temporary accommodation like B&Bs and shipping containers, and young people feel the damaging effects of growing up in a housing emergency. 

“Cripplingly expensive private rents, frozen housing benefits, and lengthy waiting lists for social homes are pushing people to the sharp edge of a housing emergency which won’t go away without genuinely affordable homes.  

“The government must invest in a new generation of social homes – 3 million more in 20 years – if they are to pull hundreds of thousands of people out of homelessness. And in the meantime, they must urgently increase housing benefit so that it covers at least the bottom third of private rents.”    

Notes to editors:

  • Anyone who is worried about losing their home can get free and independent, expert advice from Shelter at www.shelter.org.uk/advice or by calling our helpline on 0808 800 4444. 

  • Following the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) in April 2018 MHCLG changed the way it collects data from local authorities on statutory homelessness. 

  • The HRA has given local housing authorities new duties to assess, prevent and relieve homelessness for anyone who is homeless or threatened with homelessness, and eligible for assistance.

  • The rate at which a household became homeless in the last year is calculated by dividing the total number of minutes in a year (525,600) by the number of households that were owed a relief duty from April 2018 to March 2019. 118,700 households were owed a relief duty from April 2018 to March 2019. This is available at MHCLG, Live tables on homelessness, Initial decisions, Table A1

  • The number of young people aged 16 to 24 that became homeless or threatened with homelessness in the last year is the number of main applicants aged 16 to 24 who were owed a prevention or relief duty from April 2018 to March 2019. This is available at MHCLG, Live tables on homelessness, Initial decisions, Table A6 

  • The percentage of the general population that are young people is the percentage of people aged over 15 who are aged 15 to 24. This is available at ONS, Estimates of the population for the UK, England, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Table MYE1 

  • The percentage of households found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness who lost their last settled home due to the ending of a private rented tenancy is the percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by the council who lost their last settled home due to the termination of an assured shorthold tenancy from April 2018 to March 2019. This is the second most common reason why households lose their last settled home. This is available at MHCLG, Live tables on homelessness, Initial decisions, Table A2 

  • The percentage of households found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness who were living in a private rented home is the percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty who were living in the private rented home at the time of application from April 2018 to March 2019. This is available at MHCLG, Live tables on homelessness, Initial decisions, Table A4

  • The percentage of applicants owed a homelessness duty who are in work is the percentage of main applicants owed a prevention or relief duty who are in full-time or part-time work. This is available at MHCLG, Live tables on homelessness, Initial decisions, Table A10