Homelessness soars in rural England as living costs hit poor

Homelessness soars in rural England as living costs hit poor
Homelessness soars in rural England as living costs hit poor

Hello and welcome to the details of Homelessness soars in rural England as living costs hit poor and now with the details

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A cost-of-living crisis in the G7 nation and world’s sixth-biggest economy has left many Britons struggling to make ends meet, as bills for food, energy, rent and mortgages increase. — Reuters pic

LONDON, Dec 26 — Stuart GRAHAM Homelessness in rural England has risen by 40 per cent in five years with many sleeping in the open air, tents or makeshift shelters, a British rural charity said today.

A cost-of-living crisis in the G7 nation and world’s sixth-biggest economy has left many Britons struggling to make ends meet, as bills for food, energy, rent and mortgages increase.

Annual inflation hit a 41-year peak of 11.1 per cent in October 2022, and while it has come down to 3.9 per cent in November, charities say a range of factors - notably cuts to welfare payments in the last decade and a housing shortage - has exacerbated food poverty and homelessness.

The CPRE charity, which campaigns for affordable housing in rural England, said homelessness in the countryside had increased from 17,212 in 2018 to 24,143 in 2023, with wages stagnating and housing costs rising in many areas.

Advertisement

“The sharp rise in rural homelessness shows the real-life impact of record house prices, huge waiting lists for social-rent housing and the boom in second homes and short-term lets,” it said.

The charity said 12 local authorities across England—designated as predominantly rural—had levels of rough sleeping higher than the national average of 15 people per 100,000.

‘Hidden out of sight’

Advertisement

The town of Boston, northeast of London, was England’s worst-affected rural local authority for rough sleeping, the charity said.

It said 48 people per 100,000 were sleeping rough in town in September 2023 -- the latest month for which data is available.

Boston was followed by Bedford, north of London with 38 per 100,000, and North Devon in southwest England with 29.

“Unlike those in urban areas, people sleeping rough in the countryside are often hidden out of sight, camping in fields or sheltering in farm buildings,” the charity said.

“They are also less likely to have access to support services. This means the analysis, which uses the government’s own data, almost certainly underestimates the scale of the crisis.”

The charity said 300,000 people are waiting for social housing in rural England — where the average house sells for around £420,000 ($535,000).

Food handouts soar

The Shelter charity, meanwhile, said levels of homelessness across England this Christmas are likely to be 14 per cent higher than last year.

It estimated that on any given night in 2023 there were 309,550 people in some form of homelessness, the majority in temporary accommodation.

This is up from its estimate of 271,421 in its 2022 annual report.

The charity blamed a housing emergency for the crisis, and warned that the true figure could be higher due to some “hidden homelessness” such as sofa-surfing.

The Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest food bank network, said last month that the number of food parcel handouts to people in need has risen to “unprecedented levels” as poverty spread across the country.

It said it had provided 1.5 million emergency food parcels to people between April and September 2023 -- a 16 per cent increase on 2022 and the most it has ever distributed at this point in the year.

“This is the highest number of food parcel handouts we have had to give in a six-month period,” it said.

“We are expecting this to be our worst winter ever.” — AFP

These were the details of the news Homelessness soars in rural England as living costs hit poor for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.

It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.

PREV ‘She is a serial killer’: Canadian police arrest woman charged with three murders in three days across Ontario
NEXT What to expect from Nato’s new chief Mark Rutte? Don’t expect a revolution, just steady leadership in turbulent times

Author Information

I am Jeff King and I’m passionate about business and finance news with over 4 years in the industry starting as a writer working my way up into senior positions. I am the driving force behind Al-KhaleejToday.NET with a vision to broaden the company’s readership throughout 2016. I am an editor and reporter of “Financial” category. Address: 383 576 Gladwell Street Longview, TX 75604, USA Phone: (+1) 903-247-0907 Email: [email protected]