New figures show 20 children in Newark and Sherwood live without a home

Some children in Newark and Sherwood do not have a permanent home, according to new figures.

Across England, more than 123,000 children are living in temporary accommodation, a situation described by housing charity Shelter as a national emergency.

In Newark and Sherwood, a total of 22 households were in temporary accommodation at the end of June, figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show.

The figure is slightly lower than the 25 at the end of June 2017.

At a rate of 42 homeless households for every 100,000 in the area, homelessness was much less prevalent in Newark and Sherwood than across England as a whole.

Altogether, it meant 20 children in Newark and Sherwood were living without a permanent home at the end of June.

Across England, the number of households living in temporary accommodation in England has risen by 5% in a year, including 123,630 children.

Charity Shelter said the number of homeless children in temporary accommodation was 3,000 higher than last year and the highest in 11 years.

The charity’s campaign director Greg Beales said: “This is now a national emergency.”

The figures, covering April to June this year, are the first to be released since the new Homelessness Reduction Act come into force in April which aims to get local councils to do more to help people without a home.

In Newark and Sherwood, the number of households in temporary accommodation with shared facilities ­— hostels including women’s refuges ­— was seven.

Housing minister Heather Wheeler said: “Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to live.

“That is why we are investing £1.2bn to tackle all forms of homelessness. We are putting £9bn into our affordable housing programme and we are also empowering councils to borrow to build more council homes to ensure that more people have a home of their own.”

The figures do not cover rough sleeping.