Hundreds of homeless people have been dumped across London and beyond as Hackney Council struggles to cope with rising numbers.
Individuals have been sent as far away as Cornwall, Devon, Southampton, Manchester, Hull and Ireland over the past three years.
The borough moved 302 families away from their homes last year to “temporary accommodation” that is often anything but. Many families stay for years.
Placed over an hour’s drive away
Eight families with kids in Hackney were placed outside London according to the latest figures released for 2013 to 2014.
Five families were shunted more than an hour’s drive away to Thurrock in Essex and two families were placed in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, almost an hour’s drive from Hackney. Another was placed in Hertsmere, Hertfordshire, which is about 20 miles from the borough.
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Thirteen families were sent to Barking and Dagenham, 45 to Redbridge and four to Barnet.
It’s not just families who’ve found themselves placed miles away from everything they know. Last year 645 people were moved from the borough. Enfield received 92 people and and 11 ended up in Lambeth.
Councillor: “Crisis”
Philip Glanville, councillor for housing, branded the situation a “crisis” and added:
“We always try to house families in temporary accommodation in the borough, but this is not always possible as the need for housing far outstrips demand.’’
Experts say that moving families out of their home environment can have a massive impact on their day-to-day lives. Children may have to change schools, or spend hours travelling to their old school every day.
‘‘It’s shocking that families who’ve already gone through the pain of losing their home are then moved away from their local area,’’ Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, the homeless charity said.
The numbers of homeless people thrown out of their boroughs in the UK rose by a shocking 123 per cent over the last three years.
