The shocking number of families and children who will be homeless in Greater Manchester this Christmas
A shocking 16,500 people, including 7,896 children, will be homeless in Greater Manchester this Christmas, according to Shelter. The issue is exacerbated by rising rents, frozen housing benefits, and a lack of affordable homes. Mayor Andy Burnham highlights the need for more council homes and government support. Initiatives like 'A Bed Every Night' help but are overwhelmed by demand. Hidden homelessness, including families in temporary accommodation, remains a significant challenge.
16,500 Homeless This Christmas in Greater Manchester, Half Are Children
Greater Manchester faces a homelessness crisis this Christmas with 16,500 people without homes, according to new figures from Shelter. The charity’s data reveals that nearly half of those affected - 7,896 children - will spend the festive season in temporary accommodation, representing one in 20 homeless children across England.
The crisis hits hardest in Manchester city itself, where 4,326 children and 9,042 people overall are homeless. This concentration means 2.7% of England’s homeless population resides in a city with just over 1% of the country’s population, Shelter estimates.
Mayor Andy Burnham blamed frozen housing benefits for exacerbating the region’s homelessness problem. “The freezing of Local Housing Allowance has very detrimental impacts on children in Greater Manchester because of the development of the city, the growth we’ve got, rents are rising here faster than in other parts of the north,” Burnham told reporters Tuesday. “Therefore, if you freeze local housing allowance, it really hurts. The gap opens up more quickly between the benefit people are getting and the rent they are paying.”
While rough sleeping numbers dropped from 148 to 112 in 2024 thanks to the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, Burnham warned the program is at capacity. The initiative recently received £1 million in additional funding - split between government and mayoral office contributions - to support 550 users nightly, rising to 600 in April. “The message is to people - don’t travel to Greater Manchester looking for help because we are fully committed as to what we can do,” Burnham stated.
Most homeless families remain hidden from public view, trapped in what Shelter’s Manchester service lead John Ryan called “cramped and often damaging temporary accommodation.” Ryan explained: “Across the north west, extortionate private rents combined with a dire lack of genuinely affordable social homes is trapping more and more people in homelessness. Parents are spending sleepless nights worrying about their children growing up in cramped and often damaging temporary accommodation, as weeks and months turn into years without somewhere secure for them to call home.”
The government maintains it is “taking urgent action” by investing £1 billion to support homelessness services, though shelter suggests homelessness in the north west has increased 16% compared to last year.
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