Middlesbrough Homeless Figures Drop Through Strong Management
The number of people becoming homeless in Middlesbrough has fallen dramatically, according to Fabrick Housing Group.
While national figures have shown a steady decline, the figures from Erimus Housing, which is part of the Fabrick Group and manages the homelessness and housing advice service on behalf of Middlesbrough Council, shows the area’s figures for 2008/9 to be less than a third of those for the previous year.
A comparison of the 2007/8 and the 2008/9 figures shows a dramatic in official new homeless cases across the Middlesbrough borough, from 95 to 30.
For the same two periods, the numbers of people taking housing advice fell from 1,952 to 1,792.
The figures cover statutory homeless figures, where people have been forced to leave their home through no fault of their own. Government figures show the number of people accepted as homeless by local authorities fell from 15,240 in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 12,070 in the same period of 2008, a drop of 21 per cent.
Susie Thompson, Group Director of Operations at Fabrick said: “Good management and support have helped the homeless figure to drop sharply in Middlesbrough.
"By identifying the causes of homelessness, we have been able to better tackle the issues and help those in need. For example, the most significant reason for homelessness in 2007/8 was domestic violence, which sparked 45 cases. In the following year, this was reduced to seven cases.
“Most of the distinct reasons for homelessness have seen a fall in the number of cases. However, the one area where there was a notable rise was mortgage arrears, which rose from one case to seven in 2008/9. Considering the current climate, that is something which is clearly an anomaly and I hope that as this area of the economy picks up then we will continue to see the impact of the vast majority of external influences upon these figures decline.
“Fabrick Housing Group has signed up to the Government’s Mortgage Rescue Scheme which will see those people in serious mortgage difficulties become tenants in their own homes.”
A comparison of the 2007/8 and the 2008/9 figures shows a dramatic in official new homeless cases across the Middlesbrough borough, from 95 to 30.
For the same two periods, the numbers of people taking housing advice fell from 1,952 to 1,792.
The figures cover statutory homeless figures, where people have been forced to leave their home through no fault of their own. Government figures show the number of people accepted as homeless by local authorities fell from 15,240 in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 12,070 in the same period of 2008, a drop of 21 per cent.
Susie Thompson, Group Director of Operations at Fabrick said: “Good management and support have helped the homeless figure to drop sharply in Middlesbrough.
"By identifying the causes of homelessness, we have been able to better tackle the issues and help those in need. For example, the most significant reason for homelessness in 2007/8 was domestic violence, which sparked 45 cases. In the following year, this was reduced to seven cases.
“Most of the distinct reasons for homelessness have seen a fall in the number of cases. However, the one area where there was a notable rise was mortgage arrears, which rose from one case to seven in 2008/9. Considering the current climate, that is something which is clearly an anomaly and I hope that as this area of the economy picks up then we will continue to see the impact of the vast majority of external influences upon these figures decline.
“Fabrick Housing Group has signed up to the Government’s Mortgage Rescue Scheme which will see those people in serious mortgage difficulties become tenants in their own homes.”
