‘Unacceptable’ number of households in Peterborough are homeless despite being in paid work

Around a fifth of households identified as homeless in Peterborough last summer were in work, figures reveal.

Homeless charity Crisis said it is “unacceptable” that there are thousands of people in paid work but without a home across England during the coronavirus pandemic, and called for long-term investment in social housing.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data shows 194 households were entitled to help from Peterborough City Council between July and September – 147 of which were assessed as homeless and 47 at risk of becoming so.

Of these, 19 had at least one person working full-time and 18 part-time – 19 per cent of all homeless households in the area whose employment status was known.

There were also three households where the main applicant was a homeless student, or in training, and seven where they were seeking work.

Between July and September 2018, the last time these figures were published for this period, there were 292 households in need of help – with 28 per cent in work. therefore things are going in the right direction with numbers roughly halving in the city.

Across England, almost a quarter (15,590) of households were still assessed as homeless despite having full-time or part-time jobs between July and September last year.

Crisis said the situation could have been even worse without the uplift in Universal Credit and the furlough scheme, but that people will continue to struggle when restrictions are eased.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said: “It’s unacceptable that thousands of people in England cannot afford a place to live, despite being in work.

“We are calling on the Westminster Government to provide emergency grants and loans to renters who have been forced into arrears by the pandemic and extend the benefit cap grace period until the end of the pandemic.

“But we must not lose sight of the fact that homelessness amongst workers has existed long before Covid-19 and to end it once and for all, we need long-term investment in affordable housing.”

In Peterborough, 106 households (55 per cent) owed help by the council between July and September had at least one member registered as unemployed, not seeking work, or at home.

A further 38 (20 per cent) could not work due to illness or disability and two (one per cent) were retired.

Housing charity Shelter said almost half of households found to be homeless nationwide were not helped to find a home – showing the impact of a lack of suitable social housing.

The three most common triggers of homelessness in England between July and September were households no longer being able to stay with families and friends (33 per cent) - possibly due to social distancing rules, the loss of a private tenancy (14 per cent) - possibly due to no longer being able to pay rent, and domestic abuse (11 per cent) - possibly made worse by lockdown conditions.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said thousands of people are struggling to survive the “never-ending nightmare” of the pandemic, as a result of decades of “political neglect”.

A spokeswoman for the Government said it had provided “unprecedented support” for renters during the pandemic through the evictions ban and welfare support.

She added that over £700 million was being provided to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year, and over £12 billion in affordable housing over five years.