Salisbury charity calls for young adult support as homelessness rises
New research reveals a 14% rise in homeless people in the UK
A South Wiltshire charity is calling for the Government to provide more support for under 21's to help them escape homelessness.
The number of people estimated to be living homeless in England has risen 14% this year compared with last.
New research from Shelter suggests 354,000 people were living in temporary accommodation or on the streets on a single night this year.
More than 161,000 of those were children.
Vanessa Bedford from Salisbury-based charity told us being homeless impacts almost every aspect of life.
She said: "Unsuitable accommodation as well as no accommodation at all quite often preclude you from working."
She added that not having a fixed abode could lead people to being late for work even if they do have a job, which could result in job loss.
Vanessa said that the level of Universal Credit for adults under 21 is lower than those over the age of 21, saying that it needs to change.
She told Greatest Hits Radio: "The rent isn't going to change from a landlord if you're under 21 or you're over 21, it's going to be the same, 'I've set my rent at £1200 a month. I don't care if you're 18 or 28, you're still going to pay the same amount of money.'"
National Insurance changes set to have heavy impact
She also said the Government's decision to lower the threshold for National Insurance is going to impact the ability of charities like Alabaré to provide support services.
"It's going to be a big hit and a lot of our money that we're going to receive from contracts or personal donations, it's going to be eaten up with paying salaries and paying their extra National Insurance," she said.
Vanessa estimated that Alabaré's National Insurance bill is set to increase by almost £150,000 per year.
And the impact of the National Insurance changes aren't restricted to the charity. They could lead to young adults being homeless AND jobless.
"A lot of our young people work in things like hospitality, which can be quite seasonal.
Companies are not going to want to take on extra staff, usually our young people end up being the extra staff but because they're going to have to pay National Insurance from £5,000 rather than £10,000, that's an added expense for the organisation.
"Hospitality is is a big one for that and the other will be retail, shops will be under staffing rather than over staffing."
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "These figures are shocking and they show the devastating reality of the homelessness crisis which we have inherited.
"No-one should have to spend Christmas without a home and this Government is taking urgent action to get us back on track to ending homelessness, including committing £1 billion in funding to support homelessness services.
"We will go even further to fix these housing challenges by building the social and affordable homes we need as part of our Plan for Change while the Deputy Prime Minister is also chairing a new inter-ministerial group dedicated to tackling the root causes of homelessness."