Housing crisis but see how this brave woman confronts the issue

Homelessness and the Housing crisis is not exclusive to the UK. Dublin is undergoing a terrible Housing crisis but see how this brave woman confronts the issue:

Probably the bravest Traveller woman in Dublin today! Despite the fact, Margaret is on her own and without any real support from anyone and sadly that is also including “Traveller Support Groups” And still in all Margaret refuses to be silenced by anyone, Margaret will never give up on her kids and never too proud to fight to the end!. Margaret who had travelled across Dublin with her two kids in the hope that someone, somewhere will do something soon!

Margaret was truly more or less on her own today that is truly sad and a reflection of the reality of Austerity and bad political agendas.

Homelessness has been one of the biggest talking points of 2018 so far, and for good reason.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK are forced to live on the streets, sofa surf, or are stuck in dangerous rentals and unable to speak out. And more than a million people have to deal with a rogue landlord who breaks the law.

For most people, homelessness is difficult to imagine. But it isn’t as far away as we’d like to think: in fact, given how prevalent it is, you probably know someone who is, or has been, temporarily homeless.

It’s also an issue that touches on the very core of our human rights: after all, a stable home has a huge impact on our entire lives. From our education and health, to our dignity and right to a family and private life, we need to be doing more to make sure these rights are real for everyone.

Experiencing homelessness as a child can have a seriously negative impact on your health and development. Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the UK has signed and ratified, recognises “the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development,” and adequate housing is clearly fundamental to realising this right.

According to 2017 figures from the Local Government Association, the number of children in temporary accommodation has soared by more than a third in the past three years. This means there are now more than 120,000 children and their families in England living in temporary housing.

The law says that temporary housing should be suitable, however, as our first-hand testimonies show, this isn’t always the case.

Homeless families should also not be kept in B&B’s for longer than six weeks, but from January to March 2017, 1,290 homeless families spent more than six weeks in such accommodation due to housing shortages. Furthermore, 74% of homeless families stay in temporary accommodation for more than a year.

The Tories have failed dramatically on housing!

The number of social homes being built has fallen by almost 90 per cent since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, new official figures have revealed.

Just 1,409 of the lowest-cost homes were started in England in the 2017/18 financial year – down from 39,402 in 2009/10.  

However, more social homes were built last year than the previous year after ministers responded to the Grenfell Tower disaster by promising new investment in low-cost housing.

The extent of homelessness in the UK focused in and around major cities Rough sleeping – Analysis of numbers and trends around people who sleep rough in England.

How many people sleep rough each night?

According to the latest figures, collected in the autumn of 2017 and published in January 2018, 4,751 people are estimated to be sleeping rough on any one night.

Is rough sleeping on the rise?

There was an increase of 15% from 2016 to 2017, while since 2010 rough sleeping estimates show an increase of 169%.

Which areas saw the biggest increases?

In 2017, the North West of England saw the biggest percentage increase in rough sleeping since last year (39%). This is followed by the East Midlands (23%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (20%).

Over a million tenants victim to law-breaking landlords

New research released today has revealed that in the last year alone over a million – or one in eight – private renters across England are suffering at the hands of a landlord who has broken the law.

Alarmingly, the survey of over 3,250 renters by Shelter and YouGov uncovered a range of problems with law-breaking landlords committing offences ranging from unlawful behaviour to serious criminal offences. While reports of landlords entering homes without permission and deposits not being properly protected were among the most common issues, many cases of more shocking behaviour from rogue landlords were also uncovered in the survey.

The most striking findings included:

• The equivalent of over 64,000 renters reported that a landlord has cut off their utilities without their consent and almost 50,000 said their belongings had been thrown out of their home and the locks changed.
• Over 600,000 renters have had their home entered by a landlord without permission or notice being given
• Over 200,000 reported having been abused, threatened or harassed by a landlord
• Over 110,000 renters felt they had been treated unfairly due to their race, nationality, gender or sexual orientation.

The housing charity is warning that a minority of rogue landlords are causing misery to the lives of renters by committing these civil and criminal offences. Often renters don’t know what their rights are. In just the last year, Shelter’s website has received over 220,000 unique visits to its advice pages for people facing problems with a private landlord.

Shelter’s helpline adviser, Danielle Goodwin, said: “Every day at Shelter we speak to people at the end of their tether after a law-breaking landlord has caused chaos in their lives. These range from instances where the renter has been unaware of their rights, to cases where renters are exploited and subjected to terrible experiences by a minority of law breaking landlords.

“Too many people simply don’t know their rights as a renter – but Shelter is here to help anyone having landlord problems with free, expert advice. As a first port of call go to shelter.org.uk/advice or for urgent problems call our helpline on 0808 800 4444.”

Case study: Jayne, 35, has had to move after going through two experiences with rogue landlords that were among the most shocking that Shelter has encountered, and involved the police on both occasions.

Jayne says: “The problem is when you move in, you have absolutely no idea who you’re dealing with. I took one room because, even though the property was in a bad way, it was all I could afford. I paid the deposit and a month’s rent upfront, but as soon as I moved in the landlord raised the rent by 50%. When I said I couldn’t pay he came back to the house with a replica gun to threaten me – it was terrifying.

“Another couple I rented a room from would enter my room without permission, they’d eat my food out of the fridge and the landlady even stalked me after I left. Thankfully the police charged her with harassment.”