Number of homeless people increases across Staffordshire and Cheshire

There are concerns from charities across Staffordshire and Cheshire as they tell us the number of homeless people continues to rise.

Latest figures show a near 15% increase this year when compared to stats from 2023.

The data, which looks at Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, South Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-lyme, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, Stoke-on-Trent, Tamworth and Warrington, found that just shy of 1500 people are considered homeless.

Stoke-on-Trent is the worst affected with 376 people reported as needing relief duty in 2024, but the actual figure is thought to be even higher.

The relief duty applies when a local authority is satisfied that an applicant is homeless and eligible for assistance.

Gill Butler is from the Stoke-on-Trent charity Brighter Futures. She said: "There is an increased number of rough sleepers in the city, and this is growing. There is a lack of accommodation in the city which has a knock-on effect.

"We do have some that have been on the streets for quite a while, been on and off on the streets, and we do have a few that are new to rough sleeping - and then we have those are returning that might have sofa surfed."

"It might be they've not had the best start in life, people have lost their jobs, lost their houses and then they've become homeless."

Gill told us what she thinks would be ways to solve the problem. "More accommodation." she said.

"More single accommodation because not everybody thrives on sharing. We've got Hanley Connect which is a homeless hub in Hanley which has all services under one roof, so you've got the likes of accommodation providers, homeless health and community and alcohol services - that works really well.

"It's all about engagement and trust. That doesn't happen overnight. Our team are very tenacious, they won't give up on people. It's about giving chance and opportunity. So we will try to look at addressing whatever the barriers are, and then looking for accommodation as well. So very busy."

Amnesty International UK described homelessness as a "fundamental human rights issue that should concern us all" and labelled the rise in children living in temporary accommodation "astounding".

National stats show a record high of children living in temporary accommodation.

A total of 117,450 households were in this situation in England at the end of March, some 74,530 of which were households with children, the latest official figures showed.

Both are record highs, according to data published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on Thursday.

There were 151,630 children living in temporary accommodation, an increase of 15% compared with the end of March last year and the highest figure since this measure began in 2004.

Temporary accommodation is a form of homelessness and can include people living in hostels or bed and breakfasts (B&Bs).

The figure for total households in temporary accommodation has risen each quarter for the past two years, and is up by 24% on 95,000 in early 2022.

Housing charity Shelter said this Government must "tackle the housing emergency head on".

Its chief executive Polly Neate said: "Without a clear plan to invest in genuinely affordable social homes, thousands more children will be forced to grow up in damaging temporary accommodation, spending months if not years living out of suitcases, crammed into grim bedsits and B&Bs, and unable to put down any roots."

Government say they're acting on it

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, said: "We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and homelessness remains at record levels. This is nothing short of a national scandal.

"Urgent action must be taken to fix this. That's why we are working across Government and with local leaders to develop a long-term strategy to end homelessness for good.

"Work is already under way to stop people from becoming homelessness in the first place.

"This includes delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable homebuilding in a generation, abolishing Section 21 'no fault' evictions and a multimillion-pound package to provide homes for families most at risk of homelessness."

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