New Shelter figures reveal scale of homelessness in Rochdale borough

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In the north west, there were an estimated 14,230 homeless people living in council-arranged temporary accommodation

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter has released figures showing that one in 680 people in the Rochdale borough are without a home, the seventh highest rate in the north west.

Shelter’s detailed analysis of official homelessness figures and responses to a Freedom of Information request showed that 323 people in the borough were living in council-arranged temporary accommodation – including 142 children – whilst an estimated six people were sleeping rough in the borough on any given night in 2022.

In the whole north west, there were an estimated 14,230 homeless people living in council-arranged temporary accommodation and 200 people sleeping on the streets on a given night in 2022.

The charity says the number of people living in temporary accommodation has risen by an alarming 74% in the last 10 years – something the charity argues is driven by the chronic shortage of social homes, and an over-reliance on grossly expensive and unstable private renting.

More than two-thirds of families (68%) living in temporary accommodation have been there for over a year, as families cannot escape homelessness due to the severe lack of affordable homes. Shelter says that the situation  has been made worse by the three-year freeze on housing benefit, and cost of living crisis.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “The new year should be a time of hope, but this isn’t the case for the 271,000 homeless people who are facing a truly bleak 2023. A cold doorway or a grotty hostel room is not a home, but this is reality for too many people today.

“Our frontline advisers are working tirelessly to help people who are desperate to escape homelessness - from the parents doing all they can to provide some shred of a normal family life while stuck in an emergency B&B, to the person terrified of another night sleeping rough.

“With private rents and living costs continuing to soar, thousands of people are not just facing a winter of worry, they are at risk of losing the roof over their head. At Shelter, we are bracing ourselves for a sharp rise in homelessness in 2023. More than ever, we will be relying on the public’s generosity to help us support and campaign for all those fighting for a safe home.”

As well as calculating the total number of homeless people, Shelter has undertaken the largest ever survey of homeless households living in temporary accommodation.

The ground-breaking research found that living in temporary accommodation has a hugely detrimental impact on people’s health. It revealed:

• Almost two-thirds of people (63%) say that living in temporary accommodation has had a negative impact on their mental health.
• Half (51%) say that it has had a negative impact on their physical health.
• Two in five people (39%) say that living in temporary accommodation has made it harder to access healthcare appointments.

The figures provided by Shelter are an estimated number of people homeless and living in temporary accommodation arranged by the council and has been calculated using the Temporary Accommodation tables, from DLUHC’s official statutory homelessness statistics. Q2 2022 data is used wherever possible, if it is not available, the most recent available quarter in 2021/22 is used.

The number of people sleeping on the streets is taken from the annual count of rough sleepers on a single night, as at Autumn 2021 (most recent available). These figures are widely considered to be an underestimate of the true scale of street homelessness.