North East MPs 'shocked' as 15k households rehomed 'missing'

The Ministry of Housing has admitted that the destinations of one in seven families moved to emergency alternative housing in England have not been recorded between April 2023 and March 2024, but stated that work is being done to ‘rectify’ the situation.

Steve Iafrati, Assistant professor of Social Policy at Nottingham University, described how for a long time his research has shown that government data in this area is "inaccurate".

Meanwhile, Graham Morris, MP for Easington, branded the housing system as “broken” with Mary Kelly Foy, MP for Durham, adding that it was “absolutely shocking.”

The 'missing' families could have been placed in their local area or nearby in the region or in another area of the country entirely, but the data is missing.

This comes after an Echo investigation revealed that families were being moved hundreds of miles from London up to the North East into unsuitable accommodation without support.

(Image: The Northern Echo) In one case, a family was moved into a home that was covered in graffiti with broken windows and terrorised by men in balaclavas, in another, a family was moved to Ferryhill the day after the mother had been discharged from hospital.

The Deputy Prime Minister recently warned council leaders that they have to abide by the law and notify receiving local authorities when a family is moved.

(Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire) Mr Iafrati said: "For a long time my research has shown that the government’s data in this area was inaccurate.

"It is reassuring to see that this has now been accepted and that there is a positive response to moving forward.

"The housing crisis is one of the key challenges facing society at the current time and, more importantly, it is a problem that is getting worse and will adversely affect future generations unless solutions are put in place."

Grahame Morris said: "The previous Government’s failure has been catastrophic for families, who have been moved around the country without proper consideration or care for their needs.

"The current system is broken, and it will fall to a Labour Government to repair 14 years of Conservative mismanagement and neglect."

(Image: Northern Echo) Moreover, Mary Kelly Foy was shocked that nearly 15,000 households were missing from the data.

She said: "The fact that for many of these vulnerable families no records are being kept feels less like people falling through the cracks, and more like local authorities pushing them through the cracks.

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"It's not acceptable that these sending authorities are simply washing their hands of people in need, and leaving them to fend for themselves."

A Ministry of Housing spokesperson said: "We are working with local authorities that have not provided data on out of area placements to rectify this.

"More broadly, we are working at pace to address the housing crisis we have inherited and reduce the need to move people who are experiencing homelessness away from their local areas."