Young people buck downward trend

The number of young people who are homeless increased over the summer, while the number of households in England accepted as homeless continued to fall, new figures reveal. 

The Department for Communities and Local Government statistics show that 19,390 households were judged to be newly homeless by their local authority between July and September 2006, 22 per cent lower than over the same period last year.

The number of households in temporary accommodation also fell by 1 per cent compared with the previous quarter, to 93,090.

But the number of young people accepted as homeless increased by 12 per cent to 1,810 over the three months, despite an overall downward trend since 2003.

The number of households in bed and breakfast accommodation is unchanged since the previous quarter at 4,900, although the figure has fallen 20 per cent since the same period last year.

Homelessness figures have dropped steadily since 2003, with the government attributing the fall to a greater focus on prevention.