Homelessness


Download data.  As published in the 2009 State of Herefordshire Report.

Herefordshire Council has a full statutory duty to provide or arrange shelter/housing to those that meet all the following criteria:

  • eligible for assistance
  • homeless or threatened with homelessness
  • be in a priority need group e.g.
    • pregnancy/dependent children
    • vulnerable due to health issues, mental illness/physical difficulty, old age
    • 16/17 year olds
    • emergencies such as flood/fire
    • other vulnerable groups i.e. released from prison, armed forces, domestic violence
  • unintentionally homeless
  • have a local connection to Herefordshire

Chart 1. Number of people applying and numbers of those accepted as homeless in Herefordshire (towards whom the council has full statutory duty)
Chart 1. Number of people applying and numbers of those accepted as homeless in Herefordshire (towards whom the council has full statutory duty) 
Source: Strategic Housing, Herefordshire Council

Figures for both those applying as homeless and accepted as homeless were steadily increasing since 1998-99, until between 2004-05 and 2006-07, when they fell.

In 2006-07, new homeless prevention measures were put in place, which aimed at trying to prevent people from becoming homeless.  This work would be targeted at individuals or households before they applied as homeless, putting in place interventions such as mortgage rescue.  However after an initial positive decrease down to 148 people accepted as homeless in 2006-07 figures have started to increase again.

Homeless households in Bed & Breakfast (B&B) accommodation

On occasions there may not be an opportunity to re-house a homeless person or household in a hostel or self-contained dwelling. In these cases Bed & Breakfast accommodation is used to fill the gap until more permanent housing becomes available. Herefordshire Council seeks to minimise and, if possible, eliminate this type of temporary provision by 2008-09.

This indicator monitors how many households, that satisfy the above criteria, were housed in Bed & Breakfast accommodation before more permanent housing could be found.  Figures in Chart 2 show the total number of homeless households in each quarter.  If a household is in B&B accommodation for more than 1 quarter then they will be counted in more than one quarter. Because of this potential for double counting, these figures cannot be summed to give overall numbers of homeless throughout the year.

Chart 2. Number of homeless households in B&B accommodation during the year in Herefordshire
Chart 2. Number of homeless households in B&B accommodation during the year in Herefordshire 
Source: Strategic Housing, Herefordshire Council

During 2005-06 there were a peak number of households that were being housed in B&B accommodation, 93 households in Quarter 2, 2005-06.  Since then this figure has decreased substantially to lows of around 19 and 20 households around the end of 2007 and early 2008.

Since quarter 2 of 2007-08, July – Sept 2007, there has been an increase in the numbers of households accommodated in Bed and Breakfasts within the county. 

The current economic climate is putting increasing pressure on families being able to afford to pay rents/mortgages and general living costs.  The knock on effect is that Herefordshire Council’s Strategic Housing Service are having to quickly accommodate an increasing number of households with a housing need, as shown by increases in those applying and accepted as homeless and those accommodated in B&Bs.  Emerging figures for 2008-09, suggest this trend will continue, if not worsen.

Related resources

 

Last updated: 20 January 2010