Colchester has a very tight housing market at the moment. In just the past year, more than one in every two hundred English households is now in temporary accommodation. Sheffield’s local authority has just started a scheme to convert empty student apartments into accommodation for working families. Though a powerful and potentially positive initiative, this has led to animated excitement and alarm among local officials. 2) Karen Loweman, Colchester Borough Homes A Colchester representative stressed the immediate crisis her community is dealing with. The lack of affordable housing has deeply affected millions of people across the country.
Loweman, the housing crisis is getting worse, as the need for affordable homes far exceeds availability. “It’s going up because there’s not enough affordable houses,” she stated. Right now, 481 children are being supported in temporary accommodation. Sadly, most of these families are stuck in small hotel rooms and that’s where it gets tricky to hold onto a sliver of normalcy.
The financial impact on the council is huge. Each month, they dump £440,000 into bed and breakfasts and motels. As of April, 449 households were residing in temporary accommodation, a jump from just 326 households a year ago. This troubling development highlights the need to find long-term, viable answers to our country’s housing crisis.
To meet this tremendous challenge, the new initiative has provided a respite. Just as well, by the end of March, 132 households had reaped the benefits of their program. This program allows families to access student apartments that have private bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms. As Councillor Julie Young explained, this change would have a “transformational impact,” especially for families living in housing insecurity.
“You can’t quantify the difference it must make for a family to cook their own food and eat round a table together,” Young remarked. She emphasized that this arrangement provides “much better quality accommodation for families and it is cheaper for the council.” Young explained how converting the vacant student flats has returned dignity to people impacted by the housing crisis.
Loweman said the situation was emotionally draining for families placed in temporary accommodation. She called it “heartbreaking” to see children living in close quarters in hotel rooms with their families. “Our staff come into this work because they want to help people, but many now feel helpless,” she said. Loweman expressed a desire to see every family in stable housing with access to outdoor spaces, stating, “I would like to see everyone in a house with a garden where they can bring their children up.”
Though much had been accomplished through the initiative, tremendous hurdles still existed. Colchester Borough Homes has more than 2,400 applicants on its housing register. Advocates warn that families are now waiting five years to get into permanent homes. The community hasn’t given up on finding sustainable solutions so that all of their residents can enjoy safe, healthy, affordable homes.
