Shelter: Number of homeless families rising
New figures highlighted by the charity reveal that 536 families in the North West are homeless and living in temporary accommodation, a 22% rise on the same time last year.
Shelter warned that the combination of welfare cuts and a shortage of affordable homes is leaving more families struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “These figures are yet another reminder of the impact welfare cuts and the drought of genuinely affordable homes is having on families and children in the North West.
“Every day at Shelter we see the real families behind these figures, who’ve gone through the trauma of losing their home and are then left to linger in cramped and unfit rooms, as overburdened councils struggle to find them anywhere to live that’s safe, secure and affordable.
“Last Wednesday’s Budget did nothing to address this country’s sky high housing costs, whilst slicing away at the help struggling families depend on to stay in their homes. If George Osborne really wants to bring down the benefit bill his first priority should be to invest in building safe, secure and genuinely affordable homes.”
