Almost 10,000 Young People Contact Housing Helpline During COVID Pandemic

Almost 10,000 young people have contacted UK housing charity Shelter’s national helpline since the start of the COVID pandemic, new data reveals. 

In the last two months, a new young person has contacted the helpline every 15 minutes. Of those who reached out, 66 percent were already homeless, 32 percent needed urgent help to find temporary accommodation, and 13 percent needed help to maintain their current housing situation. 

The data comes as part of a wider study, released today, into who is using Shelter’s National Helpline. It found that in the last two months, a new person rang the helpline once a minute. Since March this year, 31,000 families have reached out to the charity via the helpline.

Shelter is warning that more support is needed to stave off what it calls the homelessness crisis in the UK this winter. At the beginning of the pandemic, locals councils were provided with £3.2 million additional funding as part of an emergency scheme to ensure homeless communities were provided with safe accommodation. In May, this scheme was quietly ended. As winter approaches, and with no additional provisions, campaigners fear that the risk to homeless people could be even higher. 

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Young people have been particularly devastated by the pandemic, with youth unemployment at its highest in years. Given younger people are also more likely to live in unstable and expensive private rentals, many are finding their homes under threat.”

“Without the right help, thousands of young people could end up homeless or in dangerous housing situations thanks to Covid-19 – and some may even be forced to sleep on the streets,” she added. “Every 15 minutes, another under 25 year-old calls Shelter’s free emergency helpline for housing advice and support. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that no-one, regardless of their age, is left to battle homelessness alone.”

Centrepoint, a UK homeless charity that works with young people, has also found an increase in demand in the last year, including from young people previously employed in industries hit hardest during the pandemic, such as hospitality.

Paul Noblet, head of public affairs at Centrepoint, said: "The economic fallout from coronavirus is being felt hardest by young people and we have seen a rise in the number of under-25s approaching us for help.”

 "To make sure that young people get the specialist support they need this winter, government at both a local and national level need to ringfence resources to specifically fund organisations that work with the under-25s,” he said.

“Only by doing this can we ensure that everyone can be housed in age-appropriate and covid-safe accommodation where there is no danger of them being exposed to further harm."