Islington is least likely London borough to accept homeless


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 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

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