28 Oct 2024
New details about the numbers of local children staying in temporary accommodation have been revealed.
A staggering 224 children are currently being housed by SADC, on average for 43 weeks.
The district’s housing crisis was highlighted by Labour councillor Mike Hobday at the recent Full Council meeting, who argued that something needed to be done as a priority, only to be told that it would be addressed in the new Local Plan.
He said: “It’s profoundly upsetting to hear that there are so many children forced to live in temporary accommodation locally. We think of St Albans as a prosperous and kind community, yet we are abandoning so many children to temporary accommodation. Their young lives are being disrupted, moved away from their friends, schools and GPs and they have lost the stability of a permanent home in their lives. Their education, health, well-being and future prospects can only suffer.
“It was shocking to receive a party political answer to our question at the council meeting. Children’s lives should surely be above politics! The answer to this crisis in our children’s lives is not to wait till 2041 to build more homes – the children will be in their mid-20s by then.
“The council should be treating this threat to local children as an immediate priority. It should be working with schools and the NHS to support homeless children and to make sure that they are receiving active support from housing and family support teams. It should be an immediate priority to find them permanent housing.”
Cllr Jacqui Taylor, lead councillor for housing and community safety, replied: “Liberal Democrats in St Albans district stood by those who need help the most with housing and voted for a Local Plan that includes 1,200 homes for social rent, the largest amount for a generation.
“Meanwhile there was yet more hypocritical nimbyism from Labour. Their Government wants housing, they ask how people in temporary accommodation can be housed yet vote against the very Plan that will deliver that housing.
“Their supposed concerns for people in need of a permanent home are purely bogus if they are not willing to show leadership and actually vote to give people the housing they need.”
The St Albans Times asked SADC why so many children were in temporary accommodation, what was being done to reduce the figure, and what support was provided in the interim.
SADC strategic director for community and place delivery Chris Traill responded: “The large number of children in temporary accommodation reflects unprecedented demand on the council’s homelessness services and a shortage of suitable, affordable housing in the district.
“The top three reasons why people present as homeless are being asked to leave by family and friends, fleeing domestic violence, and being issued with a Section 21 Notice ending a private rented tenancy.
“Providing more social housing is one of our priorities as a council. We work in partnership with local housing associations who are also committed to increasing the district’s supply of social housing.
“We work to identify sites for future social housing developments every year. We recently delivered 33 new homes for social rent at newly-built Jubilee Square and two current development projects will make a further 26 new social rent properties available by the summer of next year.
“Our draft Local Plan has earmarked land for the creation of 1,200 new social housing properties, mainly three-bedroom homes, which would be the most significant increase in the district’s social housing supply for a generation.
“We have a dedicated team of accommodation support advisors who give practical help to households in temporary accommodation. The council recently gained Government funding to purchase additional properties to use for temporary accommodation. This will alleviate some of the pressure on our existing resources and should reduce the number of hotel stays, assuming the number of people needing temporary accommodation does not increase further, which is by no means certain.”
