Claim that homelessness is worse than council estimates

West Berkshire Council estimates that there are seven rough sleepers in the district, but data expert SSentif claims that there are 61 homeless people in West Berkshire.
The council organised a special meeting on Monday with agencies such as Thames Valley Police, Two Saints hostel and the Citizens Advice Bureau in order to discuss the region’s rising homelessness.
During the meeting, Two Saints resident David Head, who became homeless after the break-up of his marriage, said: “I know from personal experience that there are at least 40 people in Newbury every night, but often they don’t want to be accounted for, they don’t want to be found.”
The council’s housing strategy manager, Mel Brain stressed that the local authority’s figure was only an estimate.
“We don’t do a count because West Berkshire is too big,” she said. “We work with agencies that work with rough sleepers and ask them to verify the figures. These agencies have a very good idea of rough sleepers, who they are and where they sleep.”
West Berkshire councillor David Rendel (Lib Dem, Thatcham Central) said that more affordable housing was needed in the district to help people off the streets.
In response, regional housing manager for Sovereign, Matthew Hensby said: “We have a number of sites we wish to develop in the future. Over the last number of years we’ve built homes on a number of garage sites in West Berkshire.
“We will continue to look at sites in our portfolio to provide for families, but Sovereign needs to ensure we manage our risk carefully.”
The head of letting at Sovereign, Kelly McArthur, added that the housing association was recruiting more support advisors to help tenants who find themselves in rent arrears.
In Newbury, town councillors Gabrielle McGarvey and Martha Vickers said that the council has had an increase in reports of people sleeping rough on benches, allotments and parks in the town.
Mrs Vickers said: “We have strong evidence that there are people living on our streets and sleeping in and around the town, as well as begging for money and asking for help at our church doors.
“We believe that the vulnerable and those going through difficult times have a right to support and that they also need to be safe.
“The streets and open spaces in and around our town are not healthy, safe or secure places to sleep. As we enter winter, this should be unacceptable in a civilised society and in a relatively affluent area like Newbury.”
The district council will now produce a list of recommendations on how to tackle homelessness in West Berkshire.