New picture of youth homelessness
Homelessness could be affecting thousands of 16 to 24-year-olds in England, according to new research from York University’s Centre for Housing Policy.
The study shows that nearly 52,000 young people were without some adequate form of permanent housing in 2003.
People were classed as homeless if they had nowhere to live, were based in temporary accommodation, could not stay at home because of violence or if they were living in unfit housing.
One in eight of the homeless youngsters – up to 6700 – may have recent experience of sleeping on the street, which could be seriously affecting their level of health and access to public services.
The chief executive of Centrepoint, a charity which works with young homeless people and which commissioned the report, said that the research now gave a picture of the problem. Anthony Lawton said: “For the first time in over a decade, there has been a review of all available data to identify the number.”
He added: “We have made informed estimates, which corroborate our experience of working with young people in London and over 90 council areas.”
It also suggests that the scale of the problem is hidden from local authority and other official statistics, with the real number of youths without a home estimated at 250,000.
Hard statistics on youth homelessness are sparse in England, but there is a comprehensive body of qualitative evidence that youth homelessness is strongly associated with other factors such as poverty, disrupted family life during childhood and experience of the care system.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott welcomed the report but raised concern over the initial data used.
The staff at York University used Scottish data to estimate the proportion of homeless people in English local authorities who were aged under 24.
The Government is planning a survey of homeless households next year, which will include looking at the experiences of 16-17 year olds.
