THIS Christmas, a 'shocking' 16,500 people will be homeless across Greater Manchester, according to a charity - which says half of them will be children.
The statistics, compiled by Shelter, show one in 20 homeless English children are found in our region. Bosses believes the data is likely to be an underestimate, suggesting there will be more kids without a home in Greater Manchester than the estimated total of 7,896.
Mayor Andy Burnham believes the roots of the region's child homelessness problem lies with housing benefit levels.
He said during a press conference yesterday: "The freezing of Local Housing Allowance has very detrimental impacts on children in Greater Manchester because of the development of the city, the growth we've got, rents are rising here faster than in other parts of the north.
"Therefore, if you freeze local housing allowance, it really hurts. The gap opens up more quickly between the benefit people are getting and the rent they are paying.
"The only answer is to start building more truly affordable homes, more council homes.
This story is from the December 11, 2024 edition of Manchester Evening News.
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This story is from the December 11, 2024 edition of Manchester Evening News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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