The audience at a meeting brought about to help the homeless in a Hampshire town, heard that the number of affordable homes being built in Winchester has fallen by two thirds, while the number of people going onto the waiting list for a home has soared by a huge 70% since 2010 and is now at around 4,400 applicants.
The figures are made worse by a spectacular rise in private sector rents and council bosses are under increasing pressure to try and keep a roof over everyone’s head. For the first time in a decade, Winchester City Council now has to place homeless families in bed and breakfast accommodation. In January they did this with five families and in the first two weeks of February they have had another four homeless families asking for help. This is in part due to private sector rents in Winchester going up by 8% each year. Despite a two-bedroom flat now costing £900 each month, demand is still outstripping supply and some estate agents have their own waiting list for those looking for somewhere to rent.
These details came to light at a homelessness meeting which was run by the Winchester Churches Nightshelter. Almost one-hundred people attended the meeting that had guest speakers including Andrew Palme who is the council’s head of strategic housing. He spoke about how it was becoming very difficult to find homes for families in need. The consequences of the recession in 2008 have just caught up with many people in the last six-months. The council are building fewer homes in the district with the last twelve months seeing only fifty homes completed and protected with landlord insurance. It has been private landlords rather than the council who have tried to meet the towns housing needs.
Steve Cavalier, who offers counselling at the night shelter, said: “People don’t come here, they end up here. Any of us could be in a position where we end up here, not through choice but through circumstances. We are seeing more and more people becoming homeless after losing their jobs and being unable to pay their mortgage or rent. At the night shelter we only have seventeen places, last year we provided shelter to around 140 guests but we had to turn a further four-hundred away. We hope the council can build some new houses as this will help with the problem.”