The reasons why people face becoming homeless in Nottinghamshire

Figures show 639 people in the county successfully applied for help from their local authority to stop them becoming homeless between January and March 2024.

Slightly less than half of these (269) were in Nottingham, where councillors have previously warned the city is facing an ‘acute crisis’, followed by Ashfield (86), Bassetlaw (74) and Mansfield (56).

Homelessness prevention may include help finding new accommodation or extending their current stay, if possible.

Figures show that nearly half of those Nottinghamshire people who needed help in the first quarter of the year were losing their privately rented homes.

In 199 of these cases, the landlord wished to sell or re-let the property.

Denis Tully, chief executive of support charity Emmanuel House, said: “This has been one of the main drivers of homelessness we’ve seen.

“As mortgages have gone up, many landlords have left the sector or kicked their tenants out so they increase rent.

"It’s been acute since the cost of living crisis.

“This often affects families with children, who the council has a statutory duty to house. Unfortunately, this need for emergency housing just makes property even more scarse.

“Nottingham has a low-wage economy but is the most expensive place to rent in the East Midlands.

The average rent is £1,000 a month, and as high as £1,300 in some areas.”

Another 36 of the people who sought help early this year were in rent arrears, with the causes including difficulty making other payments, loss of work or a change in personal circumstances.

A further 117 people reported that they had been relying on friends or family for housing who could no longer support them.

Eighty-five people – almost entirely in Nottingham city – were asylum seekers who had been required to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office.

Thirty-nine people said they had been victims of domestic abuse and needed to leave their homes, and there had also been 23 non-violent relationship breakdowns.

Ten people had recently left institutions such as prison, psychiatric hospitals or care, while 29 people had been evicted from social housing due to rent arrears, breaches of their tenancy agreement or other reasons.

Five said that their current home was no longer suitable due to health or disability reasons.

If councils can’t stop a person from losing their accommodation, the resident becomes eligible for ‘relief duty’, which could be help with a deposit or debt advice.

Vulnerable people or those with children will be offered interim housing, such as hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Nottingham City Council said last month that was sheltering 235 people in emergency housing – double the same time in 2023.

A headcount of people sleeping rough on the city’s streets found 51 people, including 42 men and nine women.

Mark Lowe, the council’s head of housing, recently told the housing scrutiny committee: “The aspect that costs most of our budget relates to families and vulnerable people who are being evicted or are, for other reasons, losing their home.

“It’s very hard for people on benefits to get enough money to pay for a private rented place to live.”