Southwark second highest number of Households in Temporary Accommodation in Country
Birmingham, which has well over triple the overall population of Southwark, is the only local authority with more households in temporary accommodation.
The data shows that Southwark households in temporary accommodation has risen 10% since last year, and by 21% since 2021 during the same period.
Additionally, the number of children currently in temporary accommodation, which stands at 2,945 in March this year, having increased by 258 since the same period last year. Southwark currently has the 9th highest number of children in temporary accommodation in the country.
This comes as the waiting list for social housing has soared to over 17,500, the average wait time for a multi-bedroom home for a family can be over 3 years and average rents in Southwark have increased by 14.3% since last year.
Commenting, Housing Spokesperson Cllr Emily Tester said:
“This increase in households in temporary accommodation highlights just how dire the situation is in Southwark. Housing is increasingly unaffordable, and there simply isn’t enough social housing to meet the need.
The council needs to get to grips with the issue, and free up family homes in social housing by supporting people to downsize, providing more accommodation for older people, and tackling the empty homes scandal.
Southwark Labour are too busy congratulating themselves over unfunded, imaginary housing targets to notice that the scale of the crisis is getting worse under their watch”