Helpline struggles to cope with calls

Calls to the homelessness helpline run by Shelter have risen by 20% since 2011. The housing and homelessness charity says it is struggling to cope with the increase in desperate calls to the helpline.

Over 124,000 people called the Shelter helpline in the year to March 2014, but nearly 54,000 calls went unanswered.

The charity says that the surge in calls reflects the growing number of people facing an ongoing battle to keep up with their housing costs.

The number of callers struggling with rent arrears more than doubled over the year, while those calling about mortgage arrears rose by nearly a fifth.

A job loss or serious illness can be all it takes to tip someone into a spiral that ends in homelessness, Shelter says. And “cut after cut to the housing safety net” has pushed many families over the edge into homelessness.

Shelter’s chief executive Campbell Robb said: “Every 11 minutes, a family in Britain loses their home. With more and more people having to stretch their finances to breaking point in a bid to makes ends meet, it’s not hard to see why.

“But as more people come to us desperate for support, sadly our helpline is also being stretched to its limits.”

The charity says that it needs more resources, as the overwhelming demand for its services has made it impossible to answer every call. It has launched an appeal for donations to help it meet this demand.

www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/22/shelter-homeless-helpline-stretched-limit