Hundreds of 'homeless' children in Cornwall as lockdown began
Figures show 316 were in temporary accommodation when the pandemic took hold
Hundreds of children were 'homeless and in temporary accommodation' in Cornwall at the start of the coronavirus lockdown, according to new figures.
Housing charity Shelter said it is "unbearable" that tens of thousands of children across England had no permanent home when the pandemic took hold, after the national total hit a 14-year high.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) figures show 316 children from 158 households were housed in temporary accommodation in Cornwall at the end of March – an increase of 240 on the same point last year, when there were 76.
Across England, there were 129,380 children in temporary accommodation on March 31 – the highest number since 2006.
Temporary accommodation may include bed and breakfasts, hostels or other nightly housing.
Shelter describes B&Bs as "some of the worst places for families with children to live", as they often involve entire households living in one small room without cooking facilities.
In Cornwall, households with children were most commonly in privately managed accommodation – 62 families in total.
Overall, 93,000 households were in temporary accommodation across England at the end of March, up by 9% on last year.
"The Council takes homelessness extremely seriously and is committed to taking steps to preventing homelessness wherever possible. Sadly, this is not possible in all cases, but where there are families with children who are made homeless, the Council takes every step possible to place them in self-contained accommodation and not in unsuitable accommodation such as Bed & Breakfast. Figures for this quarter show that 85% of families were placed in self-contained accommodation where they do not need to share facilities, with the majority of the remainder placed in specialist accommodation with support. When the pandemic started, families with children were moved out of emergency accommodation with shared facilities as a priority and, as at 25th August 2020, only one family with children was placed in emergency accommodation with shared facilities.
"During Covid-19, the Council has experienced unprecedented demand for temporary accommodation due to homelessness and is now accommodating more than double the number of households than usual, with this increase predominantly being households without children. The Council has procured additional temporary accommodation to meet this demand and has submitted a bid to Government for funding to enable it to continue to support single people who might otherwise sleep rough. The Council has made a commitment that every household accommodated during this period will receive an offer of suitable accommodation so that nobody needs to return to sleeping rough.
"To demonstrate its commitment to meeting the needs of households who experience homelessness, and to ensure that wherever possible, and where safe to do so, families with children are able to stay within their communities and with their support networks, the Council has invested £39m to acquire private rented accommodation for use as temporary accommodation. To date, 55 properties have been purchased, with a further 46 in the legal process."
Cornwall Council
Advice from Cornwall Council:
If you are a landlord who is thinking of serving a family notice to leave their accommodation, we would encourage you to ‘call before you serve’. If you are a family facing eviction, we would encourage you to contact our Prevention & Engagement Services as soon as possible. This will enable the Council to offer support and help to landlords and tenants in order to try and prevent homelessness.
If you need help and support to prevent homelessness you can seek advice from Cornwall Housing’s Prevention and Engagement Team at www.cornwallhousing.org.uk or by calling 0300 1234 161.
If you are living in a Cornwall Housing managed home and find that you are struggling to pay the rent, please get in contact with the rent management team on 0300 1234 161.
Worrying about whether or not you will be able to keep a roof over your head can take its toll and help and support is available for anyone concerned about their mental wellbeing. More information is available at www.cornwall.gov.uk/mentalhealth
"The Council is continuing to encourage those who can pay their Council Tax to continue to do so but for anyone who is struggling to pay their Council Tax, please do get in touch and explore how we can help. "
"We have already been able to help those households currently receiving Council Tax Support after the Government announced a further contribution to the Council Tax Hardship Fund. That meant we were able to give everyone of working age currently receiving Council Tax Support (25,000 households) an extra £150 off their Council Tax. "
There are also three discretionary funds to support residents in need of extra financial help:
• Discretionary Housing Payments for residents who rent their home, are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit and need extra help to pay their rent.
• Exceptional Relief for working age residents in receipt of Council Tax Support and who need further financial help to pay their Council tax
• Crisis and Care Award scheme which can provide extra help in emergency or disaster situations.
Find all the information, including if you are eligible for Housing Benefit, at www.cornwall.gov.uk/benefits
The MHCLG said the rise may be linked in part to the Covid-19 ‘Everyone In’ scheme, which was introduced just after lockdown on March 23, and required councils to house rough sleepers in hotels or emergency shelters.
Shelter said the pandemic has compounded a pre-existing housing crisis caused by sky-high private rents, housing benefit cuts and a chronic shortage of affordable social homes.
“It’s unbearable to think that tens of thousands of children were already homeless when the pandemic first took hold.
"What kind of futures will they have when they are spending formative time squashed into temporary homeless accommodation during a national lockdown?
“Life in temporary accommodation is hugely destabilising for children and can disrupt their development."
Chief executive of Shelter, Polly Neate
She urged the Government to invest in social homes for local communities to save a generation from homelessness.
The Labour Party is calling for the Government to extend the evictions ban, currently due to end on September 20th, to avoid thousands more people being put onto the streets before winter.
“Before Covid, we already had devastatingly high numbers in temporary accommodation as a direct result of 10 years of Conservative government, whose policies have pushed people into poverty.
“The Government have known for months that an evictions crisis is looming.
"Not for the first time, it has been too slow to take action and despite the extension to the ban we’re still facing a potential disaster as there is still no plan for what comes next.”
Thangam Debbonaire, an MP and the party's shadow housing secretary
“Every child should have somewhere safe to live, and councils have a duty to provide temporary accommodation to those who need it, including families with children.
“We are committed to supporting homeless families and we have put in place over half a billion pounds to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over this financial year."
An MHCLG spokeswoman