England’s 10 cities with highest homelessness revealed
Wolverhampton is among the top 10 cities in England with the highest rates of homelessness in the last year, according to new data.
Official figures show 639 people in Wolverhampton were homeless between January to March in 2021.
While Ipswich tops the list, in Wolverhampton, 24 out of every 10,000 people were homeless last year.
Statutory homelessness data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities shows an increase in the number of people living in temporary accommodations during the pandemic.
This was due to government initiatives like the ‘Everyone In’ campaign — where local authorities were asked to provide emergency accommodation to rough sleepers.
Housing charities have expressed their concern about the rise in homelessness numbers this winter, with these, and other such Covid protections like the rent freeze and eviction bans now ending.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said:
“We predicted the pandemic would trigger a rising tide of evictions and our services are starting to see the reality of this now. We’re flooded with calls from families and people of all ages who are homeless or on the verge of losing their home.”
