Working people are being forced to sleep in their cars because they can’t afford to rent a home, a leading councillor has claimed.
Calls have been made for housing the homeless to become Shropshire Council’s top priority, with the finger pointed at the government’s rehousing criteria for keeping people on the streets.
Councillor Jon Tandy told the Chronicle people were coming to him on a daily basis in need of housing after being failed by the system. He said he knew of a number of people – some with part-time jobs – living in cars or at friends’ homes because they couldn’t afford a house of their own.
But Shropshire Council officials have said people who don’t meet all the required criteria receive advice and assistance, which includes rehousing in the social or private sectors through other routes.
Cllr Tandy said: “We’ve got so many people who are being missed off the list and who are living in cars and holding down jobs.
“This crisis is largely a hidden one and the situation is the worst I’ve ever seen it. There is a huge shortfall of available housing for those in immediate need.
“When setting the new council’s priorities, we must place tackling the problems of Shropshire’s homeless people at the centre of policy making.
“There shouldn’t be a criteria, it should be treating people as human beings. I call it the shame of Shrewsbury and this has to be our top priority.”
John Woodyatt, of homeless charity the Isaiah 58 Project, said at least 20 people every night were sleeping rough.
“The housing criteria has been a huge problem and it has caused homelessness ever since the government brought it out,” he said.
“If you qualify for priority housing you are then recorded in government figures. I have never been able to find in eight years any figures for people who do not qualify for priority housing.
“I have come across people sleeping in tents. It is no longer just in town and the river loop, it is as far as Meole Brace. It is a ridiculous system and more cases are being buried under the carpet.”
Brighid Carey, head of housing at Shropshire Council, said: “We work with social and private sector landlords to prevent homelessness, and have been proactive in the delivery of the Government’s Mortgage Rescue Scheme.
“We are also working closely with housing associations, developers and communities, to increase the supply of affordable housing.”
