Youth homelessness surging in UK

A new report suggests that youth homelessness in the UK is more than eight times higher than the official figures.

The report has been published by Centrepoint - the UK's leading charity for homeless young people. It says some 136,000 young people aged between 16 and 24, sought emergency housing in England and Wales in 2014.

This is while only 16,000 people are officially classed as statutory homeless, which obliges councils to house them.

Centrepoint also said that at least 30,000 homeless young people have been turned away without help as councils struggle to meet emergency housing demand.

It said those young people seeking emergency housing were turned away by councils in the last year without any practical support.

The findings in Centrepoint’s report further suggest councils are unable to cope with the volume of young people in need of support. In 2014, only 40 percent of young people in England were given an assessment to find out whether they were eligible for emergency housing. In Wales, 60 percent were assessed.

Back in June, charities warned that the UK is heading for a homelessness crisis. They said the number of households in temporary accommodation has increased to nearly 65,000, which marks the highest since 2008.

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