1,000 a day contact Shelter

1,000 a day contact Shelter

11:01 AM, 2nd December 2021, About 2 years ago 7

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The Shelter press release below is critical of the winding down of the evictions ban and living costs inflation:

Since the Covid restrictions began to lift in June 2021, more than 1,000 callers a day have contacted Shelter’s emergency helpline in England, new data reveals today.

The charity’s free helpline, which is part-funded by M&S Food, has been inundated with more than 60,000 people ringing in need of urgent support and advice between June and October 2021. Of those calling 70% were already homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Vital Covid protections, such as the evictions ban, were critical in keeping thousands safe in their homes. But as they have gradually wound down and living costs have shot up thousands of people have been contacting the housing charity for help.

The nature of the calls Shelter receives shows just how urgent the situation has become: One in four callers (24%) needed urgent help to find temporary accommodation. More than one in four (26%) needed help to try and keep hold of their current home

With the latest government figures showing a household becomes homeless every four minutes, Shelter is warning a difficult winter lies ahead for its services at the frontline of the housing emergency. Its dedicated team of helpline advisers are preparing to answer calls from huge numbers of people facing homelessness and hardship in the months to come.

Andrea Deakin, Helpline Manager at Shelter, said: “The last year has been hard, and 2022 is going to be just as tough. Now Covid protections have ended and living costs are soaring, we’re answering calls from thousands of people who are homeless or about to be.”

One of the reasons Shelter can keep its emergency helpline open 365 days a year is through its longstanding partnership with M&S Food. A percentage of every sale from M&S’s festive Food on the Move range, including Christmas sandwiches, goes directly towards the emergency helpline.

“We’re working every day, including Christmas day, to make sure no one faces homelessness alone, but we’ve got our work cut out. By the time we get that call most people have exhausted every other avenue – from the family about to be evicted, to the person facing another night sleeping in their car. As well as helping us to give expert support, everyone who picks something up from M&S’s Food on the Move range, is giving hope for a brighter 2022.”


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Comments

Mick Roberts

12:48 PM, 2nd December 2021, About 2 years ago

We all said this was gonna' happen.

Why don't Shelter see us as a VERY BIG part of the solution & stop calling out so much for the Social homes which they ain't getting.

Dr Rosalind Beck

12:50 PM, 2nd December 2021, About 2 years ago

I imagine the help received goes along these lines:

Client: I desperately need somewhere to live.
Shelter: I'm very sorry to hear that.
Client: Can I stay in one of your hostels?
Shelter: We don't have any.
Client: Well can you sort me other accommodation?
Shelter: No, we don't provide any roofs over anyone's head, but we can make sympathetic noises.
Client: P*** off then!

Mick Roberts

12:54 PM, 2nd December 2021, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Dr Rosalind Beck at 02/12/2021 - 12:50Ha Ha Rose,
U forgot the Give us your Landlords name, we want to advise u both on how to avoid illegal eviction.
I got one of me Mental Health disabled tenants to ring Shelter approx May 2021 as we was getting nowhere with Job Centre, UC DWP, Local Housing offices, HB offices, no support for him to set claim up. We hoped they would say Right Nottingham, what u playing it, Mick don't want to evict, this man can't set his claim up, he's 56, his 80 year Dad who he lives with has just passed away & Mick's prepared to let him stay in the house if u can set his rent claim up.
But no, only advice on illegal eviction. If at any point Shelter started working with us & say Hey Mick, How can we solve this? OOhhhh Baby that would solve some homeless.

Freda Blogs

13:30 PM, 2nd December 2021, About 2 years ago

Can we believe anything Shelter says?

This claim is nonsense, but why would they let the facts get in the way of a good headline?

The number of days during June and October totals 153, approx. 22 weeks.

Shelter is allegedly open 365 days, so taking calls 7 days per week.

Simple arithmetic shows that 60000 calls over the period average out at 392 calls per day, or 2745 per week, so less than 40% of the numbers claimed. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe calls spiked at 1000 in one or two days, but hardly consistent over the period.

Shelter can have no credibility when they keep spewing out such alarmist and blatantly dishonest statistics.

Ian Narbeth

15:08 PM, 2nd December 2021, About 2 years ago

I am not interested in debating whether 1000 people plus or minus call Shelter in a day. There are clearly a lot of people in difficulty and I have no beef with the deserving poor. Life is tough for a lot of families. (Tenants who can pay but don't and those who treat the property badly and are anti-social and upset neighbours I have no time for.) What we are seeing of course - and any MPs reading this take note - is chickens coming home to roost.
Tenant advocacy groups like Shelter and Generation Rent have spent years denigrating the PRS (their Socialist "principles" preventing them from criticising social housing providers).
They have succeeded in driving private landlords out. Now they see the results of their labours but double down. Next will be a demand for rent controls and a fresh moratorium on evictions. Never once will they say to Government: "How can you ensure the people who provide desperately-needed accommodation get paid so that they continue to house those who would otherwise be homeless?"

Mick Roberts

15:15 PM, 2nd December 2021, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 02/12/2021 - 15:08
Great words Ian, sums a lot up in 2 lines.

"How can you ensure the people who provide desperately-needed accommodation get paid so that they continue to house those who would otherwise be homeless?"

Old Mrs Landlord

13:34 PM, 3rd December 2021, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Dr Rosalind Beck at 02/12/2021 - 12:50
An alternative reply from Shelter might be "Would you like to star in one of our landlord-bashing media campaigns or advertisements to boost our public profile and generate lots more donations to Shelter?"
Ian Narbeth for Housing Minister! As Mick says, his post encapsulates the causes of the current situation and I would imagine reflects the feelings of most decent landlords.

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