英イングランド地方部でホームレス急増　生活費高騰などで

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英イングランドの地方部で、ホームレスの数が５年で４０％増加したことが分かった。地方部で活動する慈善団体が２６日、明らかにした。（写真は、英ロンドンの繁華街オックスフォードストリートで寝る人〈資料写真〉）
　英国では生活費の高騰が深刻化。食費、光熱費、家賃、住宅ローンの金利が上がる中、会計が苦しくなった人も多い。
　２０２２年１０月には、インフレ率が１１％と過去４１年で最高を記録した。今年１１月には３．９％まで下がったが、主に１０年前に比べ福祉手当が減額されていることや住宅不足などから、食料を買えない人やホームレスが増加している。
　イングランドの地方部で手頃な住宅の供給を訴えている慈善団体ＣＰＲＥによると、地方のホームレスの数は２０１８年には１万７２１２人だったが、２０２３年には２万４１４３人に増加した。多くの自治体において賃金が上がっていないことと住居費の値上がりが背景にあるという。
　同団体によると、イングランドで最もホームレス率が高い地方自治体は、ロンドンの北東に位置するボストンだった。
　１０万人当たりのホームレスの数は全国平均では１５人だが、最新データがある今年９月時点で、ボストンでは４８人に上った。
　次いで、ロンドン北部ベッドフォードが１０万人当たり３８人、イングランド南西部ノースデボンは２９人となっている。
　ＣＰＲＥは、「都市部と違い、地方のホームレスは目につかないことが多い。野山で野営したり、農場にある建物で雨露をしのいだりしている」としている。またこうした人々は「支援を受けていないことが多い」ため、実際の数は政府統計を利用した今回の分析を上回ることはほぼ間違いと指摘した。
　同団体によると、イングランド地方部では３０万人が公営住宅への入居を待っている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/12/27-17:07）

Homelessness in rural England has risen by 40 percent in five years with many sleeping in the open air, tents or makeshift shelters, a British rural charity said on Tuesday.
A cost-of-living crisis in the G7 nation and world's sixth-biggest economy has left many Britons struggling to make ends meet, as bills for food, energy, rent and mortgages increase.
Annual inflation hit a 41-year peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022, and while it has come down to 3.9 percent in November, charities say a range of factors - notably cuts to welfare payments in the last decade and a housing shortage - has exacerbated food poverty and homelessness.
The CPRE charity, which campaigns for affordable housing in rural England, said homelessness in the countryside had increased from 17,212 in 2018 to 24,143 in 2023, with wages stagnating and housing costs rising in many areas.
The sharp rise in rural homelessness shows the real-life impact of record house prices, huge waiting lists for social-rent housing and the boom in second homes and short-term lets, it said.
The charity said 12 local authorities across England ?- designated as predominantly rural ?- had levels of rough sleeping higher than the national average of 15 people per 100,000.
- 'Hidden out of sight' -
The town of Boston, northeast of London, was England's worst-affected rural local authority for rough sleeping, the charity said.
It said 48 people per 100,000 were sleeping rough in town in September 2023 -? the latest month for which data is available.
Boston was followed by Bedford, north of London with 38 per 100,000, and North Devon in southwest England with 29.
Unlike those in urban areas, people sleeping rough in the countryside are often hidden out of sight, camping in fields or sheltering in farm buildings, the charity said.
They are also less likely to have access to support services. This means the analysis, which uses the government's own data, almost certainly underestimates the scale of the crisis.
The charity said 300,000 people are waiting for social housing in rural England ?- where the average house sells for around £420,000 ($535,000).
- Food handouts soar -
The Shelter charity, meanwhile, said levels of homelessness across England this Christmas are likely to be 14 percent higher than last year.
It estimated that on any given night in 2023 there were 309,550 people in some form of homelessness, the majority in temporary accommodation.
This is up from its estimate of 271,421 in its 2022 annual report.
The charity blamed a housing emergency for the crisis, and warned that the true figure could be higher due to some hidden homelessness such as sofa-surfing.
The Trussell Trust, the UK's largest food bank network, said last month that the number of food parcel handouts to people in need has risen to unprecedented levels as poverty spread across the country.
It said it had provided 1.5 million emergency food parcels to people between April and September 2023 -- a 16 percent increase on 2022 and the most it has ever distributed at this point in the year.
This is the highest number of food parcel handouts we have had to give in a six-month period, it said.
We are expecting this to be our worst winter ever.