From Darren Johnson (wearing his London Assembly member hat)
New figures show that London still has almost 60,000 people living in temporary accommodation, despite a Government target set in December 2004 to cut the figure to 30,800, by 2010. The figures, released by Darren Johnson, Green Party London Assembly Member, show that Lewisham still has a high number of households living in temporary housing and also reveal that London as a whole had only 1,895 fewer people living in temporary accommodation in March 2007 than in the baseline month of December 2004.
In March 2007, 2559 households were registered as living in temporary accommodation, compared to 1754 in December 2004 – an increase of 46% which suggests Lewisham is very likely to miss the target to halve temporary housing placements by 2010.
“To be on target, there should be around 14,000 fewer Londoners living in temporary accommodation today than at the end of 2004. Instead, less than 2,000 of the capital’s residents have been taken out of housing limbo. This is totally unacceptable. The wide variation in borough’s performance shows that whilst success is possible, complacency is not an option. Lewisham has one of the highest numbers of households living in temporary housing in the capital and must address this.”
“To have a chance of achieving the national target of halving the number of people in temporary accommodation, London will need significant help from Government. Recent proposals to increase investment in social home building are welcome. However, Government must also heed calls to give councils more freedom to build and manage their own social homes.”
“Within London, the Mayor’s target on affordable housing must be increased from 50% to 60% and a programme to deliver innovative housing models such as Community Land Trusts in every borough should be put in place. London’s housing crisis will not just go away. We must take real steps to providing housing that Londoners can afford.”
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