• April 18, 2017

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• By aissagallie

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The Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently released their Homelessness Monitor for England 2017.

Foundation CEO, Maggie Jones, gave the following statement in response:

This latest report from JRF provides compelling evidence of  just how wide the gap is becoming between housing benefit levels and the true cost of rents across the country. Foundation work with private landlords across the North of England  who are willing to assist us in finding homes for some of  the most vulnerable people in our communities and we are now having to ask those landlords to take a 1% rent cut for three consecutive years, when they can get far more on the open market. Housing Associations are increasingly reluctant to house our customers because they too are having to manage rent reductions and so do not want so many high risk tenants. Where are people on benefits or with very low incomes meant to go? The combination of austerity policies and the failure of housing supply means that homelessness is actually being built into our housing system with disastrous consequences for individuals, families and communities.