Councils struggling to cope with youth homelessness, report suggests

The figures highlight that councils are struggling to cope with the masses of young people in need of emergency housing. In addition, a shortage of resources means that councils were only able to assess 40 per cent of requests in England.

Of the 136,000 youths seeking emergency housing, only 16,000 were classed as ‘statuary homeless’ by their local council, an eight per cent reduction from 2012.

Gaia Marcus, Centrepoint Youth Homelessness Databank manager, said: “Councils are providing services to prevent and relieve homelessness beyond what they are legally obliged to do, but insufficient funding from central government is leaving local authorities with their hands tied and putting the futures of young people at risk.

“Each young person facing homelessness deserves to be given a thorough assessment to determine the help they need. No young person should be abandoned to dangerous situations at home or on the street.”

The report outlines the necessity of more funding in order to enable councils to assess every young person seeking help.

Coucillor Peter Box, the Local Government Association’s housing spokesman, said: “A chronic shortage of affordable housing and 40 per cent cuts to council budgets over the past five years means councils are facing real difficulties in finding emergency care for all homeless people.”

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