The Government's official statistics for homeless families doesn't make for easy reading, with various categories of eligibility and decision making clouding the issue. However, figures released today by the Department for Communities and Local Government for the last three months (up to the end of June) show a depressing picture of housing need in the city.
In total, over the three months, Salford Council made 203 decisions on homeless households that were all eligible - agreeing that only 59 of them had priority need, while 144 were either not `priority need' (usually single men), not actually homeless despite being eligible, or `priority need but intentionally'.
Over the three months, 48 households were in temporary accommodation like B&Bs, hostels and social housing, while a whopping 40 households were owed a duty to be housed by Salford Council under the Housing Act 1996 – but `no accommodation has been secured'.
These statistics are just a snapshot over the period April-June this year but the bigger picture from the last financial year (April 2012-March 2013) shows Salford as one of the worst areas in Greater Manchester for homeless households…
…Salford had the highest figure in Greater Manchester where 67 homeless households were owed a duty to be housed by Salford Council but `no accommodation has been secured'.
The city also had the third highest number of eligible homeless in Greater Manchester (657), of which 279 households were classified as priority need. Meanwhile, 53 households were living in temporary accommodation – the second highest number in Greater Manchester.
None of the figures include those who are sleeping rough on the streets or who don't present themselves to Salford Council as homeless.
As the affects of the Bedroom Tax begin to kick in, expect the figures to get worse…and worse…and worse…and the bulldozing of affordable housing in Salford continues…
See also previous Salford Star article from March - Homeless Presentations Rocket – click here
* Decipher the tables for yourself - click here
Graphic by Steven Speed
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