Housing spending rockets

THE NATIONAL HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY in Wales is helping to prevent homelessness but there is no room for complacency, a report by the Welsh auditor general said yesterday.

The strategy was launched in in November 2005 following a surge in homelessness in the previous three years and has a clear emphasis on prevention. The number of households accepted as unintentionally homeless fell sharply from 2,600 in September 2004 to 1,900 in June 2006 and the reduction in homlessness among 16- and 17-year olds was particularly marked.

However, homelessness rose again in the first half of 2006 and the reports says it is unclear why this happened. It also notes that not everyone who is homeless is applying for help: 1,215 families were evicted from social housing (mostly for rent arrears) in 2004/05 yet only 253 households were recorded as homeless in the statistics because they had lost their previous property because of rent arrears.

The report recommends a series of measures to improve the measurement of homelessness, make better use of affordable accommodation and raise awareness of the sttategy. It also notes that a series of areas such as housing benefit are outside the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly government.