Dozens of people homeless in Mansfield on any given night

Shelter, a homelessness charity, estimates 65 people were homeless in Mansfield on any given night in 2022, including 21 children, equivalent to one in every 1,700 people in the area.

About 55 homeless people in Mansfield were in temporary accommodation, while 10 were estimated to be sleeping rough.

Coun Marion Bradshaw, Mansfield Council portfolio holder for community safety, housing and wellbeing, said: “In common with authorities across the country, we have seen rises in people presenting as homeless.

“The figures quoted by Shelter include people who are classified as homeless under the Homelessness Reduction Act, but who we have negotiated can stay in their private tenancy, which then effectively becomes their temporary accommodation, while they await suitable alternative housing.

“We always do everything we can to help people faced with homelessness by acting swiftly and using planned moves, rather than uprooting families and placing them in interim accommodation, possibly out of the area and away from their support networks.

“Obviously, the best long-term solution is to reduce our waiting list and get more people into secure and lasting accommodation by providing more social housing. To that end, we have an ongoing multi-million-pound programme to build dozens more high quality council homes to let at affordable rents.

“We also have an ongoing commitment to permanently reduce rough sleeping and have had success in this respect. In 2016, there were 27 rough sleepers in Mansfield and last year’s monthly figures ranged from just two to 13. The official figure for 2021 was 10.

“I am proud of our pioneering Mansfield First Steps project, which offers rough sleepers a home, combined with wraparound care for mental health issues and addiction. This scheme has just been awarded £1m to keep it running for another three years and has gone a long way to reducing the number of people sleeping on the street in this district.

“There are other projects, too, which are mitigating against homelessness including the Call B4 You Serve scheme, which aims to keep people in private tenancies where possible, and the Healthy Homes Hub, which aims to improve living standards across the district of Mansfield and to prevent homelessness by supporting people with complex needs.”

Polly Neate, Shelter chief executive, said it was expecting a rise in homelessness in 2023.

“A cold doorway or a grotty hostel room is not a home, but this is reality for too many people today,” she said.

“With private rents and living costs continuing to soar, thousands of people are not just facing a winter of worry, they are at risk of losing the roof over their head.”

The estimates suggest about 2,400 people were sleeping rough across England, with a further 15,000 people in hostels or supported accommodation.

Nearly 250,000 people, mainly families, were living in temporary accommodation.

The overall figure is down slightly from the previous year – 274,000 were estimated to be homeless on any given night in 2021.

Across the East Midlands, 5,933 people were estimated to be homeless on any given night in 2022, one in every 822 residents in the region.

A Government spokeswoman said it had given £366 million to local authorities this year to help prevent evictions and provide temporary housing.