The current housing crisis in Southampton has left many thousands of people in unsuitable living conditions.
Out of the 9,556 households that are currently on the local authority housing waiting list for Southampton, 6,391 are currently living in unsanitary and unsuitable conditions, according to government statistics.
Figures from housing charity Shelter show that nationwide 90,000 more social houses are needed during this upcoming parliamentary year. The number of houses being built this year is the lowest that it has been for 70 years, with 1.1 million households on the waiting list. Almost 50% of those have been waiting for over a year.
Chief executive for Shelter, Polly Neale, agrees that the situation is unacceptable:
Families are forced to live in overcrowded conditions, single parents are making the impossible choice of eating or paying the rent, and children are growing up homeless in grim B&Bs.
Shelter have begun a petition to implore the government to focus on social housing. The website says:
The housing emergency is at crisis point. The cost of private renting has sky-rocketed, but it isn’t providing the homes people need. From the huge increase in people sleeping rough to the families and older people being left to cope in temporary accommodation, the situation is desperate.
You can see Shelter’s campaign and petition for more social housing here.
