Homeless Families: Relocation outside London

Debate between Grahame Morris and Mary Kelly Foy

Monday 25th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for giving way. A similar thing has happened in my constituency. Does he agree that the way councils are acting is inhumane? They are uprooting people’s lives and relocating them to unfamiliar places, often into properties with not even the basic amenities. Does he agree that that needs to stop?

[Grahame Morris]

I completely agree. This is not care; it is coercion.

Homelessness is an ever-present spectre of our time. According to a survey by the Big Issue, two thirds of private renters are worried about paying their rent and the potential adverse consequences for their housing situation. At a time of desperate need, people should be able to trust their local authority to provide advice and support, but what do they find? They find a system in which some families are being threatened, intimidated and pressured into making potentially life-changing decisions in a moment of profound vulnerability.