Democracy Land UK homeless charity registers record requests

The number of Britons calling for homeless aid during Christmas has hit an all-time high, leading charity Crisis has warned.

The charity reported a record 22-percent rise in the number of homeless people seeking shelter at Christmas with almost 4,500 people turning to the charity for help in just one week – between 22 and 29 December.

According to Crisis, the figure was the highest since its Christmas project began more than four decades ago.

The charity’s chief executive Leslie Morphy blamed the government over the shocking number of people seeking assistance, saying the rise was due to cuts to housing benefit, high unemployment, low pay, and high rents.

“If we are to avoid seeing yet more people come through our doors next Christmas, the government must address the chronic lack of affordable housing, take real steps to improve the private rented sector and urgently consider the impact its cuts are having, particularly in the capital,” Morphy said.

The charity’s study also revealed that in 2012-13 rough sleeping in England rose by six percent, with nine percent of those aged between 16 and 24 saying they had experienced homelessness.

Earlier last month, a joint report by Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) showed that homelessness in the UK has been rising for three years in a row under the twin pressures of housing shortages and government cuts to benefits.

The research also revealed that an estimated 185,000 people a year are affected by homelessness in England.