‘Staggering’ rise in homelessness among young people, says charity

The youth homelessness charity, Centrepoint, has discovered a huge increase in the number of young people without a home or at risk of being homeless in the last year.

According to Centrepoint, 118,134 young people across the UK aged between 16 and 24 contacted their local councils in search of  assistance between April 2023 and March 2024, as they were either homeless or under threat of homelessness.

The charity found that the number of youths in need of help had increased by 10% since the same time frame in the previous year.

However, only 67,714 of those who reached out across the UK were assessed for homelessness prevention or relief duty

Centrepoint detailed how this epidemic of homelessness among young people has led to 101,460 youths in England alone approaching their local councils.

This represents a “staggering” increase of 12% compared to the previous year, when 90,600 English teenagers and young adults had asked for help.

The East of England appeared to be the sole region in England without an increase in youth homelessness. Meanwhile, homelessness rates in Wales increased by 7%, Northern Ireland saw a similar rate to prior years, while Scotland was the only UK nation observing a decrease (of 2%) in youth homelessness.

However, only 67,714 of those who reached out across the UK were assessed for homelessness prevention or relief duty.

I think that maybe what we’re seeing is an after effect of the cost-of-living crisis, we’ve got a lot of like young people being asked to leave by family who can’t afford to keep them

West Midlands local authority staff member

In Centrepoint’s summary report, The Youth Homelessness Databank 2023-2024, the most common reasons for homelessness were the withdrawal of accommodation by family or friends, domestic abuse, the end of assured shorthold tenancy, requirements to leave asylum support accommodation provided by the Home Office, and eviction from supported housing.

A staff member from a West Midlands local authority commented: “I think that maybe what we’re seeing is an after effect of the cost-of-living crisis, we’ve got a lot of like young people being asked to leave by family who can’t afford to keep them.”

Between 2023 and 2024, one young person was at risk of homelessness approximately every four minutes in the UK

Between 2023 and 2024, one young person was at risk of homelessness approximately every four minutes in the UK.

Centrepoint also outlined its recommendations for preventing youth homelessness and help those who suffer from it.

The charity called on the Ministry of Housing Community and Local Government to increase “Government scrutiny over how local authorities provide homelessness assessments and services”.

Centrepoint believes this would “improve adherence to best practices”.

It also recommended keeping consistent standards and combating gaps in service provision when trying to prevent youth homelessness.

Further recommendations included building more youth-specific emergency housing, engaging in more collaboration with housing, education, employment and welfare services, and providing ring-fenced funding for youth homelessness initiatives.