Rough sleeping in Barnet rose by 58% between April 2020 and March 2021, compared to the year before. Responding to these new figures published by the Greater London Authority (GLA), local London Assembly Member Anne Clarke AM, warned that recent progress on tackling homelessness “could be undone” if long-term Government funding is not put in place.
The latest GLA data shows that 282 rough sleepers were recorded on Barnet’s streets during this period, up from 178 in 2019/2020.
At the start of the pandemic, backed by Government funding, City Hall, working alongside local authorities and charities, helped over 2,400 rough sleepers into safe accommodation through the ‘Everyone In’ scheme. Around nine in ten of those helped through the scheme were moved into longer-term accommodation according to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
During a London Assembly Plenary meeting last month, the Mayor said he was keen to work with Central Government to sustain this progress, but warned that City Hall needs twelve times the funding it currently receives to properly address rough sleeping in the capital.
It has recently been reported that the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, (MHCLG) sent a letter to councils in receipt of Rough Sleeping Initiative funding in May, asking them to close the hotels they used to house the homeless by the end of June this year.
Ms Clarke is now raising concerns about a potential increase in the number of people in the borough losing their homes in the coming months in the wake of the end of the evictions ban and due to the Government’s two-year delay in putting an end to section 21 or ‘no fault’ evictions.
The London Assembly Member is calling for the Government to put in place an emergency fund for tenants who have been financially impacted by the pandemic and have fallen into rent arrears. In addition, she wants to see Local Housing Allowance (LHA) increased to cover average rents.
Local London Assembly Member, Anne Clarke AM, said:
“We need action to tackle this increase in rough sleeping in our community particularly as we move further into a third wave driven by the more contagious Delta variant.
“At the start of the pandemic, so much progress was made helping homeless people into safe and longer-term accommodation through the ‘Everyone In’ scheme.
“The sad reality is that all of this positive work could be undone without the right level of sustained support from Government.
“We also need Ministers to act to prevent homelessness in the first place. In practice, this means strengthening our welfare system and putting in place an emergency fund for those who have fallen into deep rent arrears due to the pandemic”.
Notes to editors
- The latest Greater London Authority (GLA) CHAIN rough sleeping annual reports can be found here;
- During a London Assembly Plenary session that took place on 10th June, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said that the ‘Everyone In’ scheme helped over 2,400 rough sleepers into safe accommodation at the start of the pandemic- with 89% of those moved into longer-term accommodation. He also revealed that City Hall needs twelve times the amount of funding it currently receives from Government to properly address rough sleeping in London. Sadiq Khan’s discussion of the Everyone In scheme can be watched back here and starts around the 51:10 mark;
- It has recently been reported that he Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, (MHCLG) sent a letter to councils in receipt of Rough Sleeping Initiative funding in May, asking them to close the hotels they used to house the homeless by the end of June this year;
- Anne Clarke AM is the London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden.