Charity’s latest homeless figures for Norfolk

Nearly 400 children are currently homeless in Norfolk with the latest figures showing the scale of the issue remains at a record high.Great Yarmouth, Breckland and North Norfolk District Council are the worst-affected areas in the county, according to the latest data from homelessness charity, Shelter.In some districts, about 50 per cent of those living in temporary accommodation are young people. It follows last year’s figures reaching a record high with the number of families affected doubling in some instances with little sign of the problem improving.

The town with the biggest problem in Norfolk is Great Yarmouth, where one in 542 people are homeless.In Breckland, there are also 83 children homeless out of the 243 people in total – 10 more than in 2023.In South Norfolk, the number remains unchanged at 28 children out of the 155 people in total and in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, there are 52 children out of 131 people in total that are homeless. Norwich has the least number of children, at just nine out of the 86 people estimated to be homeless in total.Overall, there are 391 children currently homeless – a drop of just five children from last year, when rates reached the worst they have been since records began in 2004. Nationally, it is estimated one in 84 primary school-aged children were homeless in December.Shelter says on average, families and children are spending more than two years in temporary accommodation.District councils are at the frontline of the housing and homelessness crisis. They are responsible for providing help to those facing homelessness and they have a duty to provide temporary accommodation.The situation is pushing many councils into financial difficulty and is costing some Norfolk authorities more than £1m a year on temporary accommodation, which can require £632 a week to house a family.The government provides a housing allowance of just £98 per person currently.It has led councils to buy homes on the private market in order to provide more temporary accommodation. To address the housing crisis, the government has proposed sweeping planning reforms and new housebuilding targets. Some councils in Norfolk have been told to double the number of homes they build a year, including West Norfolk Council and Breckland.Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Parents are spending sleepless nights worrying about their children growing up in cramped and often damaging temporary accommodation, as weeks and months turn into years without somewhere secure for them to call home.“Until the government builds the social homes needed to end the housing emergency for good, Shelter will be there for people facing the devastation of homelessness.”In November, West Norfolk Council launched its strategy for tackling homelessness and rough sleeping for the next five years. It was launched at an event held at Lynn Town Hall when those attending heard over the past two years, the number of people approaching the council for help had doubled, driven by an increasingly inaccessible private rental market, an increase in reports of domestic abuse, an increase in families seeking help, and an increase in homeless presentations for people in some form of employment.However, statistics showed that compared to other areas in the East of England, West Norfolk had a lower level of rough sleepers.Around 118 people contributed to the new strategy and 27 of those people have lived experience of being homeless or sleeping rough.The council’s bold plan sets out a number of different interventions with people facing difficulties being urged to come forward sooner rather than later. Andy King, the council’s senior housing manager, said at the time of the launch: “We have made huge strides in getting people out of homelessness. We want to make things sustainable and long-term and break repeat cases.”Improvements include aiming to improve accommodation for renters working with private landlords to achieve this, partnering with the NHS to help improve health and lifestyles and provide accessible immediate help in a crisis.