Plugged IN

摘要

This month, radical changes to the benefits system allied to London's acute housing shortage leaves the capital at the eye of a powerful storm. More than 360,000 London households are registered on council waiting lists; homelessness is increasing, and nearly 40,000 people are living in temporary accommodation - a solution which is as expensive as it is inadequate. As private sector rents continue to rise, London boroughs have been forced to use bed and breakfast or other temporary accommodation to house people in need. London Councils' most recent figures estimate that by 2020, the gap between the number of new homes being built and the number of new households in London will be more than 249,000.