No-one living homeless in Halton according to data
The highest rate in the North West was in Manchester.
A file picture of a tent in some bushes near McDonald's in Runcorn in 2020, before the period covered by the official data used by Shelter. (Runcorn Weekly News)
Halton is among a handful of boroughs in England with no homelessness according to official data.
A report published by the charity Shelter said Halton had zero homeless residents in accommodation organised by the local authority, zero residents in temporary accommodation organised by themselves, zero sleeping "on the streets", no homeless children, and a total number of homeless people recorded as zero.
The data was compiled from a mix of official and estimated figures drawn from Freedom of Information requests, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Homeless Link volunteer group, and Halton Borough Council figures submitted to the government, and from 2021 and 2022.
Other boroughs with a complete set of zero figures for homelessness were Bolsover, Hounslow, Hartlepool, The Isles of Scilly, North Warwickshire and Rugby.
The figures might provoke scepticism among residents, either in temporary accommodation themselves or familiar with the occasional sight of tents in parts of the borough's green spaces.
According to the data, the highest rate of homelessness in the North West was Manchester, recorded as one in 74 people being homeless, followed by Salford on one in 279, then Oldham on one in 366, Tameside on one in 415, and Liverpool on 451.
More than 14,600 people were recorded as homeless in the North West, including 6,720 children.
Shelter's analysis found one in 507 people in the North West didn't have a home, and of those 200 people were sleeping rough on any given night and 14,230 in temporary accommodation – most of whom were families.
The charity said that across England the number of residents living in temporary accommodation has risen by an alarming 74% in the last 10 years, which it said was caused by "the chronic shortage of social homes", and an "over-reliance on grossly expensive and unstable private renting".
Shelter said more than two-thirds of families (68%) living in temporary accommodation in England have been there for over a year, showing this type of accommodation is becoming less and less “temporary” as families "cannot escape homelessness due to the severe lack of affordable homes", exacerbated by a three-year freeze on housing benefit, and the cost-of-living crisis.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “The new year should be a time of hope, but this isn’t the case for the over 14,600 homeless people in the North West who are facing a truly bleak 2023.
"A cold doorway or a grotty hostel room is not a home, but this is reality for too many people today.
“Our frontline advisers are working tirelessly to help people who are desperate to escape homelessness - from the parents doing all they can to provide some shred of a normal family life while stuck in an emergency B&B, to the person terrified of another night sleeping rough.
“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.
"At Shelter, we are bracing ourselves for a sharp rise in homelessness in 2023.
"More than ever, we will be relying on the public’s generosity to help us support and campaign for all those fighting for a safe home.”
Halton spans the towns of Runcorn and Widnes, Cheshire, and some surrounding villages.
