Rise in emergency calls to Shelter helpline in 2018

There has been a sharp rise in the proportion of calls to the Shelter Helpline from people at risk of homelessness, according to new data released by the housing charity. The figures show there was an 8% rise in the proportion of calls taken by the Shelter Helpline from people at risk of homelessness so…

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Homeless numbers rise again according to the Charity Shelter

Brand new analysis from Shelter reveals that 320,000 people are recorded as homeless, as numbers rise again. This figure lays bare the true scale of Britain’s worsening housing crisis, despite repeated Government pledges to tackle the problem. In the last year, the overall number increased by 13,000 people. This means one in every 200 people in Britain are homeless and sleeping on the…

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Shelter’s updated response to the scrapping of council borrowing caps.

Shelter’s updated response to the scrapping of council borrowing caps. This represents a major reform that will allow councils to deliver desperately needed affordable homes  – and allow them onto the playing field as significant housebuilders. Previously there was a prohibitive cap on how much councils could borrow against their assets to fund new housing…

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Shelter response to Labour plans to tax second homes

Shelter response to Labour announcement that they will tax second homes and earmark the money for councils to help families housed in temporary accomodation – please see our response below. Polly Neate, CEO at Shelter said: “Our housing crisis has reached such depths that tens of thousands of families are being tipped into homelessness and…

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Shelter responds to review of the private rented sector

Please find below Shelter’s reponse to Nationwide Foundation and Univeristy of York’s review of the private rented sector, which calls for property MOTs for private rented homes. Polly Neate, chief executive, Shelter said, “Decades of failure to build social homes mean thousands of families are left to contend with the broken, failing market that is…

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Discrimination against people on housing benefit revealed in new report from Shelter and NHF

A new Shelter and NHF report reveals discrimination against housing benefit tenants is rife Five of England’s leading letting agents actively discriminate against tenants on housing benefit, according to a new report by Shelter and the National Housing Federation (NHF). In an undercover investigation carried out by Mystery Shoppers Ltd. 149 regional letting agent branches…

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Shelter’s response to Governments new rough sleeping strategy including joint response.

Please find below Shelter’s full response to the government’s new rough-sleeping strategy, and also a joint response from the seven housing and homelessness organisations (including Shelter) who sat on the Rough Sleeping Advisory Group. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “This strategy is an important step forward in the fight against the rough-sleeping emergency that’s…

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Rents have risen 60% faster than average wages across England according to new research by housing charity Shelter.

New research from Housing Charity Shelter reveals that rents have raced 60% faster than wages since 2011 across England and it shows this crisis is spilling out of cities and into leafy English market towns and suburbs like Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Milton Keynes. Research report ‘Rentquake’ hits middle England as rents race above wages…

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55% of families trapped in temporary accommodation are working

New research released by Shelter’s social housing commission shows 55% of families trapped in temporary accommodation are working. That’s equivalent to more than 33,000 families. This has increased by 73% since 2013. This story comes as the government is set to release a green paper on social housing next week. The trend in ‘working homelessness’…

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Shelter analysis of government released quarterly homelesness figures

Shelter analysis of government released quarterly homelessness figures headlined ‘Highest number of older people homeless in a decade’. New government figures on homelessness show: ·         In the last year, 2,520 people aged 60 and over were accepted as homeless – a staggering rise of 40% in the last five years, and the highest number for…

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