Households accepted as homeless by borough

What does this graph show?

The graph shows the proportion of households in each borough accepted as homeless.

Nine out of the ten boroughs with the highest proportion of households accepted as homeless are in Inner London. In fact, the six boroughs with the highest proportion of homeless acceptances are all in the Inner East & South - Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth, Lewisham, Haringey and Southwark.

Compared to 2007/08, homelessness acceptances were down in almost every borough in 2010/11. In a number of boroughs, such as Harrow, Newham, Greenwich, Brent, Enfield, Islington, Hammersmith and Hounslow, acceptances fell by more than half. There were two exceptions to this - Croydon and Kensington & Chelsea, which saw an increase in homeless acceptances.

However, as shown by the graph on households accepted as homeless and in temporary accommodation, overall homelessness did rise in recent times, especially in the last two quarters of 2011. Note that the period covered in this graph is a two year average and only go up to the first quarter of 2011 (the final quarter of the financial year 2010/11, for which the local authority data is produced). So the recent rise in London as a whole is not picked up in the local authority statistics as yet.

Rates of acceptance are determined by local policy as well as local need. Councils aim to prevent households from even applying for homeless status, by offering other types of support and housing options. This was a national policy which reduced the number of homeless applications made right across the country.

Once the application has been made, the variation in acceptance rates is sizeable. For instance, in 2009/10, 75% of applicants in Lambeth were accepted as homeless, compared to just 9% in Havering. The reasons for not accepting applications also vary. About 7% of all homelessness decisions in London are defined as "intentional" (see below). But this varies a lot between boroughs from about 1% to 15% of all decisions.

See also the trends in homelessness acceptances over time.

Additional information

Local authorities have a legal requirement to find suitable housing for some, but not all, households whom they accept as homeless.

To be formally recognised as homeless, the person or household must either lack a 'licence to occupy' a home or it must be unreasonable for them to have to occupy the home they are in.

A household is only entitled to accommodation from their local authority if they are classified as unintentionally homeless and deemed to be in 'priority need' (that is, with dependent children or meeting one of several criteria for 'vulnerability').

The decision as to whether a person became homeless "intentionally" is made by the local authority based on whether the individual or household "did (or did not do) something that caused them to leave the accommodation". This could include failure to
pay rent or mortgage interest, antisocial behaviour or leaving accommodation that it would have been reasonable to stay in.

In practice, being classified as 'homeless' is dependent on the judgement of the particular local authority, and can, as a result, change substantially from one year to the next. Local authorities also have no statutory requirement to house single homeless people (unless deemed 'vulnerable'), which may discourage single people from applying in the first place.

Data used

DCLG

Indicator last updated: 25 April 2012