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1/7 Reading a report from LSE commissioned by #Camden Council re: reasons why homeless families are stuck in #TemporaryAccommodation (DM if you'd like a copy!). Here are some thoughts...
2/7 Preliminary point: the research focused on why families with children are resistant to accepting PRS offers out of borough. The fact that this remained a mystery to council officers in June 2019 is... interesting.
3/7 It says that the avg no. of points required to successfully bid for 2-bed housing was 300. This is objectively wrong & a drastic underestimate. Avg according to #Camden website is 500, and anecdotally (based on interviews w/ scores of clients) appears to be closer to ~600-800
4/7 Households who 'choose' to apply as homeless are given reduced priority for #SocialHousing compared w/ those who make arrangements for themselves eg by staying with family. This belies a gross misunderstanding of the causes of homelessness, EVEN ACCORDING TO THE SAME REPORT
5/7 Top 3 causes of homelessness were: being evicted by family (161 applicants), termination of #PRS tenancy (130), and violence, harassment or abuse (83), plus 110 for 'other reasons'. None of these families 'chose' to apply as homeless or live in temporary accommodation
6/7 This system de-prioritises the most vulnerable families - those with nowhere left to turn and virtually no support network. It shows a lack of sympathy and a fundamental misunderstanding of #homelessness by pushing the blame onto the victims.
