Charities rightly estimate that the number of homeless people is much greater than the figures supplied by local authorities (Sharp rise in number of homeless households, 13 September). Some homelessness goes unrecorded, but council figures themselves can be reduced by manipulation. Those who are unable to find accommodation in their local area have their names removed from the register after two years.
An example: my son moved to Oxford in 1992 and studied, lived and worked there until 2015. He became disabled and lost his employment in 2012. He remained in rented accommodation in Oxford, and when his savings ran out he lived on employment support allowance, with housing benefit to pay his rent. In 2015 his landlord sold his flat: the only advice my son received was to squat! Despite impeccable references, he was unable to find private rented accommodation, since either mortgage agreements or insurance terms prohibit landlords from letting to anyone in receipt of housing benefit. The city’s housing department told my son that, because of the lack of housing stock, they were unlikely ever to be able to accommodate him.
He continues to live in Oxford by day: his friends, cricket team, social life and work are all there. But at night he sofa-surfs, spending more nights in my home (40 miles away) than elsewhere. So in 2017, Oxford city council decided that he no longer has a local connection to the city and removed his name from their homeless register. One of many “disappeared” homeless people.
Name and address supplied
• Page 4 of Tuesday’s G2 – someone spends £800,000 on a marriage proposal. Page 6 – hundreds of homeless people die on the streets because of a lack of resources. What kind of society are we living in?
Kate Urwin
Washington, Tyne and Wear
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