The root of Britain’s homelessness epidemic? Landlords – and not just the bad ones
The latest figures should be a wake-up call for an incoming Labour government, writes Hannah Fearn: sort out housing, and the rest will follow
For every landlord who’s a bit of a grifter, looking to make a quick and easy buck, there are at least two responsible ones who want to make good use of their assets by providing a stable, comfortable home for others. But the problem for the government – and for a new government later this year – is that both have the same damaging effect on tenants’ lives.
To illustrate what I mean, let’s have a look at the latest homelessness figures which were released right at the end of April. They found that there are now more than 317,430 people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness across England. This includes a record number of children living hampered young lives in emergency accommodation – now hitting 145,000, and by some estimates that includes one in 10 children living in London.
The cause of such a high rate of homelessness is largely the actions of landlords: the issuing of no-fault evictions, which are now at the highest rates since records began in 2018. Some of this is done out of greed: 10,000 were evicted between April and December 2023 because the landlord wanted to relet the property to different tenants, ie new tenants who can afford to pay an inflated weekly rent, leaving the former inhabitants with nowhere to go except emergency provision. That’s a child no longer with a bedroom of their own or a quiet table to do their homework because a landlord wanted to squeeze an extra £50 a week out of their asset.