John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning, responding to new government data revealing that homelessness has risen by a third since 2010 and the number of disabled people made homeless has increased by 39 per cent, said:

“Hard on the heels of the Budget backtrack on disability benefits, this huge rise in homelessness is a further blow to the credibility of David Cameron’s claim to ‘compassionate Conservatism’.

“No One Nation government would accept rapidly rising homelessness and still stick with the policies causing the problem. The Chancellor has backed down on some new disability benefit cuts but these figures expose the harsh impact on disabled people of the cuts he’s already made.

“The homeless figures hide personal stories of hurt and hopelessness; thousands of people whose ordinary lives have fallen apart from illness, debt, family break-up, addiction or redundancy.

“This spiralling scale of homelessness shames us all when Britain is one of the richest countries in the world. The Government’s failure to control housing costs and crude cuts to housing support over the last six years are making the problem much worse. Conservative Ministers have no long-term housing plan for the country.

“These figures are just the tip of the iceberg of the housing crisis but they are a condemnation of Conservative housing policy and the harsh impact it is having on those who are most vulnerable.

“The Chancellor pledged £115 million to help homelessness in the Budget but this is not new money and even if the funds are provided in full it will recover only £1 in every £9 the Chancellor is set to strip from homelessness hostels and other specialist housing in further cuts to housing benefit support announced in the Autumn Statement.  

“The Chancellor this week backed off some new disability benefit cuts, and he must now re-think the multi-billion pound cuts to housing and homelessness support which are set to bite during this Parliament.”