According to social affairs correspondent May Bulman’s report for the Independent, ‘On any given night in autumn last year, 4,751 people were recorded sleeping on the streets, a figure that has more than doubled’ since the previous year.
The number of people sleeping rough is rising. So too is the number of houses and properties lying empty. Across East London, in 2017 there were 1,318 empty properties in Newham, 3,000 in Tower Hamlets and more than 1,000 in Hackney. Nationwide there are thought to be around 250,000 homeless people and in the region of 237,000 empty properties.
Hold on a minute: the number of homeless people in the UK is roughly equivalent to the number of empty properties. Theoretically, each and every one of those who are currently homeless, could have a house to themselves!
Of course, what’s loosely described as ‘housing’ is often an investment vehicle for those who are already well-housed. It would take a revolution to re-allocate empty housing to the people who really need it. But while we’re waiting (don’t hold your breath), let’s be clear there is an instant solution to the housing problem: fill the empty houses with people who would cease to be homeless overnight.
The proof that property is primarily an investment is to be found in the number of people of who will die on the streets of London this winter.