More Than 2,000 Sussex Households Made Homeless During Pandemic

According to data obtained by the Observer, more than 2,000 households in Sussex have been made homeless since the start of the pandemic.

Despite the government banning evictions for most of the last 10 months, the Observer's figures show that at least 6,661 households across Sussex approached their local council for help with homelessness, or threat of homelessness, between the start of April and end of November 2020.

The figures include 1,155 households that were 'owed the prevention duty', meaning they were judged to be threatened with homelessness.

Also included are 2,121 households that were 'owed the relief duty', meaning they were already homeless, which is defined more broadly than rough sleeping.

The figures are based on freedom of information data from 231 councils covering April to November 2020, supplemented with published government data covering April to June for 78 councils that did not respond to the FOI request.

In Sussex, the authorities that did not respond were Brighton and Hove City Council, Rother District Council and Wealden District Council.

As previously reported by More Radio, local authorities across Sussex are urging renters facing eviction to ask for help to reduce risk of homelessness.

The figures reveal that families across Sussex have been impacted heavily by the pandemic, despite Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, tweeting in March saying that nobody should lose their home as a result of the pandemic.

Thank you @Shelter - no one should lose their home as a result of the #coronavirus epidemic. https://t.co/XZsWu1HV40

— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) March 26, 2020

Labour’s shadow housing secretary, Thangam Debbonaire, told the Observer:

“The government promised nobody would lose their home because of coronavirus. These figures show that promise has been broken.

“Instead of last-minute U-turns and piecemeal homelessness support, the government needs to support renters, crack down on illegal evictions, and ensure nobody spends this lockdown on the streets.”

Housing union Acorn has been advising tenants on how to deal with attempted illegal evictions.

A spokesperson from the union told the Observer that they want the government to "stop protecting landlords over working people" and commit to an indefinite eviction ban for the duration of the crisis, not just a pause on enforcement.

Illegal evictions are attempted by dodgy landlords up and down the country every day. The best way to stop them is through organisation and community - so here are our top 5 tips to resist an illegal eviction🤝 pic.twitter.com/ylOBhB5zNc

— ACORN the union (@ACORNunion) January 15, 2021

These numbers are just a fraction of the 70,000 UK households that have been made homeless during the pandemic, as revealed by the Observer here.