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It is unacceptable that 86,000 young people will experience homelessness this year. Tragically, that truth is matched by another bizarre, shocking statistic. According to the government, there are 205,000 long-term empty homes ('long-term' means over six months) in England alone. This week is national Empty Homes Week.
It is a startling fact that young people in the UK are three times more likely to experience homelessness than the rest of the population, and are disproportionally impacted by job insecurity and poverty. A recent study found that one in 13 people aged between 16 and 25 in the UK have experienced some form of homelessness within the last five years.
Since joining LandAid earlier this month, I'd been looking forward to my first visit to a project we're helping to fund. I couldn't wait to see the concrete impact LandAid's grants were having on young people's lives. I'm not sure I could have attended a better first visit than XLP in Greenwich.
We're delighted that many of these projects will be funded by the RICS Pledge150 campaign. In total these projects will create 161 bedspaces, of which 60 will be directly funded by Pledge150.
Over 80 senior property professionals from across the South West gathered together this morning to form LandAid, the property industry charity, South West Fundraising Board.
Lack of opportunity does not mean lack of aspiration, and LandAid House will help young people to unlock it. Everyone deserves a good first start in life. I was lucky enough to have one - a conventional' path through a good school, two parents who encouraged me in my chosen degree and a solid network of friends and family that ensured I sailed comfortably through the rocky waters of their divorce.
RICS's Pledge150 campaign aims to raise enough money to create 150 bed spaces for young homeless people around the UK. Erin Peart, Board Member for RICS North East, recently visited one of the LandAid projects that the campaign will fund: SHAID (Single Homelessness Action in Durham).
I was struck by two separate but connected facts last week. The first fact was the shocking statistic that well over a third of young people who are homeless are also struggling with a mental health problem. Homeless Link's excellent Young & Homeless 2018 report - jointly funded by LandAid and Comic Relief - highlighted the prevalence of mental health problems among an already very vulnerable group of young people.
Welfare reforms are contributing to homelessness among young people aged 16 to 24 by affecting their ability to access and sustain housing, according to Homeless Link's Young & Homeless 2018 report, published today. Read the Young & Homeless 2018 executive summary and full report, funded by LandAid and Comic Relief.
