In response to new Government figures revealing that 56,950 households in London were recorded as living in temporary accommodation between April and June 2019, an increase of 29 percent in the last five years, including a total of 89,130 children, Labour’s London Assembly Housing Spokesperson, Tom Copley AM, said:
“Every child should be entitled to a safe and secure home, but these figures expose the stark and desperate reality for thousands of families across the capital trapped in the limbo of temporary accommodation.
“Sadly, this form of homelessness, at its highest level in over a decade, is often overlooked. It is completely unacceptable that children are being left to grow up in unsuitable and sometimes dangerous circumstances- without any space to study or play.
“From City Hall, significant work is being undertaken to make up the shortfall in affordable housing in London, with the Mayor kickstarting the construction of a new generation of council homes.
“If the Government is to fulfil its promises on tackling homelessness, it must match these efforts by properly investing in the provision of genuinely affordable homes and putting an end to the right to buy and no fault evictions, alongside introducing rent controls and open-ended tenancies in the private rented sector”.
ENDS