The number of people who are classed as homeless in London has returned to levels not seen since the 1990s, but the Green Party’s Mayoral candidate Sian Berry, is concerned that the number of ‘hidden’ homeless is far higher in boroughs like Islington.An analysis from the Green Party has shown that London councils turn away nearly half the people who come to them as homeless. However, this disguises a post code lottery of whether a council accepts that a person is homeless. People applying in nearby Tower Hamlets (80% acceptance) are twice as likely to be accepted as homeless than in Islington (32% acceptance) and neighbouring Hackney (71% acceptance) also accepts a much higher proportion of applications. Sian Berry is worried this is because council’s are deliberately interpreting the rules in a way that reduces the number of homeless.Sian Berry, the Green Party candidate for Mayor, said: “As Mayor I would order a London wide review of how local authorities apply the rules on homelessness. I am worried that the number of hidden homeless is rising even more rapidly than the official number ofhomeless people. These figures give some idea of the magnitude of the human misery this housing crisis is creating. Given that the leading cause of homelessness in London is the loss of a private rented tenancy, I’m more convinced than ever that my idea of a London Renters Union, which will help tenants organise to enforce existing rules to make housing more affordable, could be vitally useful because it will help keep people in their homes.Samir Jeraj, Green Party housing spokesperson and London Assembly candidate for the North East constituency, which includes Islington, said: “Islington Council has questions to answer on these worrying figures. From the numbers, it looks like they are turning people away who would have been helped if they happened to live just over the border in Hackney, or nearby Tower Hamlets. It is important that the homeless in Islington are treated fairly and do not fall victim to the borough’s interpretation of the rules. The Council needs to issue revised guidance so that no one falls through the cracks.”Cllr Caroline Russell said: “This is not just a statistic about the the council’s acceptance rate of homeless people. This has real implications for real people whose lives are devastated by becoming homeless often through no fault of their own. Since I’ve become a councillor, it has been really eye opening seeing at first hand how hard to navigate the system is in Islington and how shredded the safety net has become. The council’s response rate that forces people to leave the borough losing their local connection as well as often many of their possessions, is utterly shameful in the twenty first century.”Note 1) ‘Priority Need’ status is explained here: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/homelessness/help_from_the_council_when_homeless/priority_needNote 2) A table of the results for all London Boroughs and London-wide:
Council
Total households applying
Households granted priority need
% Households granted priority need
Tower Hamlets
191
153
80.10%
Enfield
388
303
78.09%
Hounslow
137
105
76.64%
Haringey
231
170
73.59%
Greenwich
164
118
71.95%
City of London
14
10
71.43%
Sutton
119
85
71.43%
Hackney
392
279
71.17%
Harrow
220
156
70.91%
Bromley
184
128
69.57%
Wandsworth
332
229
68.98%
Hammersmith and Fulham
131
80
61.07%
Lambeth
154
94
61.04%
Barking and Dagenham
500
305
61.00%
Croydon
399
242
60.65%
Barnet
162
98
60.49%
Bexley
191
113
59.16%
Westminster
238
139
58.40%
Kingston upon Thames
81
47
58.02%
London
8,310
4,700
56.56%
Lewisham
356
192
53.93%
Hillingdon
155
77
49.68%
Newham
450
222
49.33%
Redbridge
296
142
47.97%
Camden
23
11
47.83%
Waltham Forest
571
272
47.64%
Southwark
511
234
45.79%
Kensington and Chelsea
325
148
45.54%
Brent
385
169
43.90%
Ealing
336
128
38.10%
Merton
115
44
38.26%
Havering
228
82
35.96%
Islington
228
74
32.46%
Note 3) The full analysis can be found at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JOPMsUGn0tsS2KtjsdypyMkEyc9juDFg2nUiOiHtUOY/edit?usp=sharing
Note 4) Southwark Council lost a court case for wrongly assessing a disabled person as ‘not in priority need’. The priority need test was described at the time as ‘an almost impossible test’ http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/13/homeless-people-almost-impossible-accomodation-test-local-authorities