UK: Response to annual statutory homelessness figures

Responding to the latest Government statistics on homelessness, Jen Clark, Economic and Social Rights Lead at Amnesty International UK, said: 

“The latest statistics show that 178,560 households experienced homelessness across 2023-2024, which is an alarming annual increase of 12.3% and a fifth of households who are homeless with children have been trapped in temporary accommodation for five years or more. 

“The Government must move beyond blaming inherited policies and relying on their repeated promise of new housing as a magic future solution to this crisis. 

“The homelessness emergency is already upon us. Urgent action is needed to protect human rights as people will be facing a life-or-death situation this winter without safe and secure housing.  

“The Government must rapidly implement a crisis action plan, including addressing the appalling quality of emergency and temporary accommodation, lack of secure funding for services, inadequate hostel systems and barriers to access adequate healthcare.  We can no longer tolerate the fact that children's health is perilously affected because of inertia in political decision making. 

Housing and homelessness dominated the Labour Party conference conversations but there were glaring omissions regarding what will be done to help those people most at risk.  

“Moves to increase renters' rights, housing supply or affordability are welcome but with winter on the horizon the Government cannot afford to wait for new buildings or strategy planning processes to be completed to protect people who are homeless now.  

“Behind each number is a human being in real crisis and policymakers are failing to fulfil their obligations to protect human rights under international law. 

We need urgent and immediate action to address the homelessness crisis holistically and make home a protected right by law”.