More households facing homelessness, officer says

Southampton City Council has given an update on the number of households threatened with losing their homes

A council officer has said a rising number of people are facing homelessness, including low income families.

Southampton City Council has given an update on the number of households threatened with losing their homes, which shows a rise for the third successive year.

In 2020-2021, the authority supported 1,242 people threatened with homelessness, in 2021/22 that increased to 1,609, and to 1,826 in 2022/23.

Council lead for for housing and welfare support Maria Byrne said she predicted an increase of around 1,900 for the coming year.

The council also has more than 8,000 applicants for social housing who are waiting as long as 11 years and five months for a home.

Ms Byrne said: “We’ve seen more and more people come to us for advice.

"It’s not just people on benefits; it’s low-income families with, especially, the rise of the cost of living.

"We’ve seen households that we wouldn’t have seen before because people are generally finding it difficult to find housing, whether social or private.

“The most common reasons why people got evicted is because landlords want to sell or re-let the property, the tenants experience financial difficulties and due to increased rent.”

In Southampton, 182 households are in temporary emergency housing accommodation

In Southampton, 182 households are in temporary emergency housing accommodation, 20 have been in bed and breakfasts for more than six weeks, and about 150 are in nightly paid accommodation.

To prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless, the council works with tenants and landlords to resolve issues where possible, Ms Byrne said.

This year, the city council has helped 320 households set them up into a new private tenancy.