More than 62,000 children in London face being homeless this Christmas — an increase of 5,000 on last year — a charity warned today.
An investigation by the housing charity Shelter revealed a nine per cent increase in homeless young people in London this year, with many forced to witness drug use and live in “shameful” cramped conditions in emergency hostels and B&Bs.
According to the latest figures there were 62,394 young people in temporary accommodation in London at the end of June, compared with 57,269 at the same time last year. And across Britain 80,000 children are facing a homeless Christmas.
Launching an emergency appeal for support, Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said: “Our shocking findings have uncovered the shameful conditions homeless children will be living in this Christmas.
“Parents and children sharing beds, children forced to eat on the floor and being threatened with violence in the place they live: this shouldn’t be happening in 21st-century Britain.
“No child should be homeless, let alone 80,000. But tragically, with more people struggling to make ends meet and homelessness on the rise, we’re bracing ourselves for an increase in demand from families who desperately need our help.
“Our advisers will be working with families facing homelessness every day this Christmas to help them find a safe place to live and get back on their feet — but we urgently need more support this year to be there for these children.”
One London mother told how she and her four young children were forced to share a single room for five months. Louise, who didn’t want to give her surname, was declared homeless with her children after they were forced to leave their home because her ex-husband stopped paying the mortgage
She said: “It wasn’t easy, I went in there very optimistic thinking it would be six weeks, maybe eight weeks tops, we’d be there. But the weeks and weeks went on. I was losing hope very quickly.”
The family finally found a permanent home in September with the charity’s help.
