More than 400 Portsmouth families were homeless or threatened with homelessness last winter

Figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show that 256 families or individuals in Portsmouth were identified as homeless by the council between October and December 2020, up from 235 the year before.

A further 172 households were eligible for council help as they were at risk of homelessness in winter 2020.

Nationally, the number of people identified as homeless has risen slightly, as Shelter says there is a clear danger of the problem worsening further when pandemic measures are lifted.

But a national decrease in the threat of homelessness came as the government and local authorities sought to ensure as many people as possible had roofs over their heads during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Shelter’s chief executive Polly Neate said: ‘The economic impact of the pandemic has exposed the true cost of decades of failure to build the social homes we need.

‘More than 60,000 households were tipped into homelessness last winter – even with the evictions ban.

‘In just over a month the ban on evictions is going to lift, and even more struggling families could be faced with the same fate.’

There were 142 households in temporary accommodation in Portsmouth on December 31 – eight fewer than the year before and including 108 children – while the council did not assess anyone as a rough sleeper in that time.

Private sector eviction restrictions led to a drop of almost half in the number of households threatened with homelessness via the serving of a Section 21 notice, which landlords must issue before ending tenancies.

There were fewer households in Portsmouth facing that threat last winter compared to the previous year – from 90 in 2019 to 55.

An MHCLG spokesman said: ‘Renters continue to be protected, including through six-month notice periods and a ban on the enforcement of evictions, except in the most serious circumstances.

‘But there is more still to do, and we will continue to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping with over £750 million funding this year alone.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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