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News in brief : Issue 163

August 01 2026

News in brief by the Pavement Team

Council chaos

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has ordered Hounslow Council in London to pay a woman £7,100 in compensation, after all of her belongings were thrown away when she was evicted from her home, even though the council promised to look after them. Miss X was issued an eviction notice in spring 2024. A council assessment recorded she had several health conditions that affected her day-to-day life. After being issued the notice, Hounslow notified Miss X that it owed her a ‘prevention duty’, meaning the council should take steps to stop her becoming homeless. By September 2024, the notice had expired, with no evidence the landlord planned to proceed with the eviction. However, in mid-October 2024, Miss X received a notice that her landlord had applied to court for a possession order and was evicted by bailiffs in May 2025. She initially went to stay with family, while the council offered her a room at a hotel as interim accommodation. The Standard reports that, rather than providing appropriate housing, the council moved Miss X between three temporary properties. The council was aware of her mobility issues, but placed her in properties that did not meet her physical needs. The majority of the final £7,100 compensation was awarded to recognise the extensive time she was forced to live in these unsuitable homes. On the day of the eviction, the council failed to inform the moving company they had arranged for Miss X in time, leading to the landlord removing the belongings. Miss X lost all of her possessions. She was compensated £500 for lost items and £300 for distress caused.


B&B lawbreak

London’s Ealing Council broke the law by placing a disabled pregnant mother and her child in temporary accommodation for over a year, the local government watchdog has found. The woman uses a wheelchair and has complex medical needs. She originally approached the council in February 2024 because she was homeless. Legally, families with children can be housed in B&B accommodation for a maximum of six weeks in England. To make matters worse, the accommodation had stairs, breaching accessibility guidelines for council-housed people reliant on wheelchairs. The ombudsman found the council failed to act fast enough upon receiving medical information from the woman’s midwife to assess her priority band. The delay meant that she was unable to bid on suitable properties, according to the BBC. The council apologised and will pay £6,000 in compensation for the impact of the accommodation, together with a further £150 for the distress.



© the Pavement
Checkmates: The first-ever Streets Legends Chess Cup at the Museum of Homelessness (MoH) took place on 17 and 18 July, at the MoH Manor House Lodge site. A team tournament was held on the Friday and an open singles tournament on the Saturday. Alongside the competition, chess sets were available to visitors wanting a casual game. Players competed for cash prizes, MoH goodie bags and the Street Legends Chess Cup. Congratulations to everybody who took part. Check out the MoH website for more community events coming up: museumofhomelessness.org


New record

Official figures gathered by Crisis show the number of people sleeping rough in England rose to a record 4,793 last summer. The figure is widely understood to be an underestimate. Including people sleeping in hostels and other temporary accommodation, the official homeless figure currently stands at more than 180,000 people in England. A joint report by the thinktank IPPR North and Crisis warns that the number of people experiencing homelessness in England will rise by 25% – equivalent to about 50,000 people – by 2030 without swift, sustained action. The analysis, based on government figures, also suggests that the number of people owed a homelessness duty by their local authority will rise from 182,540 last year to 231,299 in 2029-30 unless radical action is taken. The report calls for a national expansion of Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester “A Bed Every Night” programme, which aims to provide a bed and personalised support to every person at risk of sleeping rough in the city. Crisis is also calling for support for councils to bring long-term empty homes back into use.


New direction

In July, the UK welcomed its seventh prime minister in a decade when Andy Burnham replaced the outgoing Keir Starmer. Burnham was made Labour party leader the week before Starmer formally resigned. Although the pair represent the same political party, Burnham has promised the “biggest changes in 40 years” to the UK by his government. Encouragingly, Burnham used his first speech as prime minister to deliver a message on the homelessness crisis. Standing outside Downing Street, Burnham told reporters: “I will soon go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction – to end rough sleeping in our country.” As Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham introduced the “A Bed Every Night” programme, which set out to get people sleeping rough into shelter. It remains to be seen what his plans are to end rough sleeping on a national scale. Watch this space.


Pop-up

In late June, Streets Kitchen ran a pop-up outreach service in north London, inviting people to eat, drink and access services that could be helpful to them. On site, volunteers offered sun cream and bottles of water to guests, while Naloxone kits and opioid awareness information was also shared. Streets Kitchen says it is planning similar pop-ups through the summer and has announced that this year’s StreetsFest – the annual festival of services, support and entertainment for people experiencing homelessness – will take place on Wednesday 2 September.


Upstreaming service

The Upstream Homelessness Prevention Fund learning report found almost 1,000 people were supported and 662 households were prevented from being affected by the homelessness crisis in Scotland in a pilot scheme to evaluate how to carry out the upcoming ‘Ask and Act’ prevention duties. The report revealed findings from seven social landlord and third sector partnerships who participated in the scheme, estimating that the pilot saved costs of almost £10m. The pilot implemented routine ‘Asking’ at several intervals, as well as rapid cash payments to tackle issues, stopping evictions, decreasing legal costs, developing engagement and enabling frontline staff to rapidly prevent crisis for people. Scotland Housing News reports the scheme ran between 2025-26 with £1m funding made available to partners by the Scottish Government.



© Antropia
Behind the mask: Since 2024, Antropia has run weekly Portal Projects art workshops for people affected by homelessness at the Swiss Church, London. Members of the Portal Projects have co-designed public artworks installed at the Swiss Church, St Paul's Actors' Church and Phoenix Garden. One of the works, pictured above, features a green bronze mask with a QR code linking directly to a curated list of support services and resources for people experiencing homelessness. To attend Antropia Portal Projects art workshops, visit the Swiss Church on 79 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9DY on Tuesdays, 9 – 11am. 


Misinformation debunked

Scotland’s Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has condemned what she terms “misinformation” on refugees, reiterating people seeking asylum were not prioritised over Scottish citizens. Speaking in June, Somerville addressed claims by Reform UK Scotland that the end of the local connection rule in 2022 has seen migrants presenting as homeless travel from England to be housed in Scotland. Both the Scottish Government and the housing charity Shelter have made clear the claims are false. Somerville told The National: “Local authorities assess each case based on statutory duties and household need... These rights apply equally to all those who are homeless through no fault of their own.” Meanwhile, Gordon Llewellyn-MacRae, interim director of the Shelter Scotland, said: “Everyone who is homeless in Scotland is entitled to have their case assessed fairly, with dignity, and according to their legal rights.”


Living in fear

A survey carried out for Everyone Home collective – a group of more than 40 organisations working around housing and homelessness – found that 35% of 1,000 respondents from Scotland feared losing their home over the next three years. The rate rises to a staggering 49% for respondents aged between 18 and 24. A spokesperson for Scotland’s largest tenants’ union, Living Rent, told the Morning Star: “The fear of losing our homes and becoming homeless is never far from any tenant’s mind. Most of us have been forced out of our flats or communities because landlords increased the rent or evicted us, and we know far too well the debilitating impact this has on the rest of our lives.”


Children at risk

An investigation by The Ferret has found that over 2,000 children under two years old were placed in temporary accommodation in Scotland during 2024 and 2025, despite evidence this puts them at higher risk of health complications or even death. Responding to the report, Scotland's commissioner for children and young people has called on the government to take action to end the use of unsuitable temporary accommodation for children. Earlier this year research by the National Child Mortality Database found that 104 children have died in temporary accommodation in the UK since 2019, with 76 under the age of one.

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August – September 2026 : Here and now

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