Peterborough: Rising demand for housing sees 350 children in temporary homes

Homelessness charities also attended the event to discuss the housing issue in Peterborough

More than 350 children are in temporary accommodation due to rising demand for housing in a city, a council said.

Adrian Chapman, director of place and economy at Peterborough City Council, was speaking at an event organised by Peterborough Citizens UK.

The group called for more affordable housing to be built.

Mr Chapman said nearly 100 people were applying for each council house every week but the council was "committed to correcting that data".

He said demand for housing in the city had risen by 30% over three years and the number of people seeking the authority's help in general had gone up by two-thirds during that time.

About 70 people attended the event at Peterborough Museum, including school pupils, to speak about the issue of homelessness.

Some pupils told the meeting they had carried out research suggesting there were 10 unused brownfield sites that could be repurposed.

"The brownfield idea is phenomenal and we are keen to include it in our housing strategy," Mr Chapman said.

He said the council also wanted to work with private landlords who had "about 600 empty properties".

"The council will be buying 40 houses to rehome some of the 61 families currently in bed and breakfast [accommodation]," he said.

One resident told the meeting a family member who found herself homeless was told by the council to "come back after three years".

In response, Mr Chapman said it was "outrageous" that people were being turned away for housing.

Homeless charities including Light Project Peterborough, Hope into Action and HELP were also in attendance at the meeting.

Dilraj Kaur from Peterborough Citizens UK said it was "great" to see positive contributions made by attendees.

"After this homelessness and housing campaign meeting, people told us they felt humbled and empowered to fight it," Ms Kaur said.

"We are meeting again on 18 April next year, where we look forward to some positive news on the actions discussed today."