THE number of people recorded as homeless in the West Midlands has reached 20,900 according to a new report from Shelter.
In the most extensive review of its kind, the housing charity combined official rough-sleeping, temporary accommodation and social services figures, which showed the number of homeless people in the region has increased by 22 per cent in a year.
To identify where the problem is most acute in the region the charity mapped the top 20 hotspots in the region with the highest levels of homelessness. Birmingham topped the list where 1 in every 88 people are homeless.
This was followed by Coventry (1 in 229), Solihull (1 in 314), and Walsall (1 in 424).
Redditch is ranked at 21st in the league table with an estimated five people sleeping rough and 28 people classed as homeless (1 in 3,085).
This puts the borough behind Bromsgrove, ranked 12th with two rough sleepers and 109 people homeless (1 in 808) and Stratford, ranked sixth with 13 rough sleepers and 202 homeless (1 in 605).
Shelter Birmingham Hub manager, Vicky Hines said: “It’s shocking to think that today, almost 21,000 people in the West Midlands are waking up homeless. Some will have spent the night shivering on a cold pavement, others crammed into a dingy, hostel room with their children. And what is worse, many are simply unaccounted for.”
To support Shelter visit www.shelter.org.uk or text SHELTER to 70080 to donate £3.
