Nottingham facing homeless crisis as hundreds need beds
Families now make up 50% of application for help
Nottingham City Council are seeing applications from local people who say they've been made homeless rising at a rapid rate.
At the moment the authority is looking after 600 families and individuals in temporary accommodation, including hostels, leased houses and B&Bs.
Cllr Linda Woodings, portfolio holder for housing and planning, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We had 115 households (families and individuals) through the doors only last week, presenting as homeless.
“I feel for them – we are facing an avalanche of homelessness. We’re running up an escalator and we can’t keep pace with the demand coming through the doors.
“It is causing massive implications. More people will end up in B&B accommodation and the cost to the councils will rack up. It is unsustainable as for council budgets.”
Cllr Woodings also said that the lifting on restrictions around eviction had also meant an increase in applications for help.
During lockdown, eviction notice periods were extended to six months as an emergency measure by the Government. Now the period is four months – and from October it will be two months.
“Renters don’t have enough rights,” she added. “Two months notice of eviction does not give us a meaningful period of time to find a meaningful solution. I would like to see six-month notices.”
The Labour-run authority is already forecast to exceed the £890,000 budget it set to deal with homelesness.
As it stand 17 households are in B&B accommodation with more than £115,000 spent on hotel rooms this financial year. That's compared to just £66,000 in the whole of last year.
Between March 2020 and December 2020 families made up just 10% of applications for help, now they represent half of applications.