A new report by Milton Keynes Council has suggested homelessness levels in Milton Keynes are 'disproportionate for the size of the city'.
Data places Milton Keynes as the 13th highest area out of 313 authorities. Cities such as London and Manchester ranked higher.
Neighbouring authorities ranked at Bedford Borough 220th, Buckinghamshire 221st, Central Bedfordshire 235th and Luton at 17th.
The data was based on the number of households owed a main duty and was put together by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in central Government.
The report reads that Covid-19 had a significant impact on homelessness in Milton Keynes, with many landlords making the decision to sell their properties.
During the Community and Housing Scrutiny Committee, which took place on Wednesday 3rd March, officers for Milton Keynes Council discussed the housing market is very "hot at the moment" and that this means as people are losing their private rented properties.
As written in the report, MK Council officers say 'A ban on evictions was in place until July 2021 with a return to pre-pandemic notice periods since 1 October 2021. We have seen a steady increase in Section 21, ‘no fault’ notices being served by landlords since October with around a quarter of homeless approaches to our Housing Document Title Solutions Service being due to a loss of tenancy in the private rented sector. Many landlords are making the decision to sell their properties at a time when the housing market is buoyant.'
In terms of rough sleeping, MK Council have reported improvements on numbers. The group head of Adult Services at the Council explained: "People who are rough sleeping are always homeless, but homeless people are not always rough sleepers."
During a count, that took place nationally one night in November, 18 rough sleepers were identified in Milton Keynes. The yearly count is part of the government's target to end rough sleeping.
The number of Milton Keynes rough sleepers, identified on that night, was the same as 2020. However, Milton Keynes Council have said this is a 'significant reduction' since 2017, when 48 rough sleepers were identified during the same count.
In the middle of November, 11 people were identified as sleeping in tents in Central MK and as of the now (the Community and Housing Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday 3rd March), Milton Keynes Council says there is one person.
The group head of Adult Services at the Council described rough sleeping as the area in which is most complex, due to the number of different factors leading to it. The officer explained: "It can be a myriad of issues around broken relationships, drug and alcohol issues and mental health issues so it does need a multi-disciplinary approach to support people."
