Homeless households
Services for the homeless
Local authorities have a duty to help homeless people who fit certain criteria, and those who may be about to become homeless. Anyone requiring information on services for the homeless should use the appropriate unitary authority, district council or voluntary organisation links in the related information panel.
Summary
Households assessed and owed a duty
Relief duty
The c3,198+ households assessed as homeless and owed a relief duty in Lancashire-12 was c1.8% of the England figure of 178,560. Preston had the highest 'homeless and owed a relief duty' figure in the Lancashire-12 area, with Lancaster close behind. Ribble Valley Borough Council failed to submit data for one quarter, but had the lowest number of duties owed.
Prevention duty
There were c3,062+ households threatened with homelessness and owed a prevention duty in 2023/24, which was c2.1% of the England total (146,430). There were 503 such households in Rossendale, giving a rate of 15.7 per 1,000 households. This was the fifth highest rate in England.
Total of households owed either duty
Combining the number of households owed a relief or prevention duty gives a total of c6,260 households, 1.7% of the England total of 358,370.
Table 1: Households assessed as homeless or as at risk of homelessness and a duty owed, April 2023 to March 2024
| Area | Homeless households – relief duty owed (RDO) |
Households assessed as homeless per (000s) |
Households threatened with homelessness within 56 days – prevention duty owed (PDO) | Households assessed as threatened with homelessness per (000s) |
Total Households owed a prevention or relief duty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 442 | 11.3 | 322 | 8.2 | 764 |
| Chorley | 250 | 4.7 | 222 | 4.2 | 472 |
| Fylde | 200 | 4.9 | 98 | 2.4 | 298 |
| Hyndburn | 236 | 6.6 | 179 | 5.0 | 415 |
| Lancaster | 536 | 8.7 | 394 | 6.4 | 930 |
| Pendle | 119 | 3.0 | 327 | 8.2 | 446 |
| Preston | 569 | 9.7 | 455 | 7.7 | 1,024 |
| Ribble Valley(3) | 47 | 0.6 | 23 | 0.3 | 70 |
| Rossendale | 73 | 2.3 | 503 | 15.7 | 576 |
| South Ribble | 360 | 7.4 | 167 | 3.4 | 527 |
| West Lancashire | 243 | 5.2 | 55 | 1.2 | 298 |
| Wyre | 123 | 2.4 | 317 | 6.1 | 440 |
| Lancashire-12 | c3,198 | c3,062 | c6,260 | ||
| Blackburn with Darwen | 607 | 10.47 | 493 | 8.5 | 1,100 |
| Blackpool | 1,115 | 17.72 | 813 | 12.9 | 1,928 |
| Lancashire-14 | c4,920 | c4,368 | c9,288 | ||
| North West | 27,820 | 8.63 | 20,340 | 6.3 | 48,230 |
| England | 178,560 | 7.38 | 146,430 | 6.1 | 358,370 |
Source: Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, live tables on homelessness (Table A1).
Households accepted as homeless and in priority need
In the Lancashire-12 area in 2023/24, around 466 households were accepted as being homeless and in priority need, of which nearly half were found in just two districts, Lancaster and South Ribble. The Lancashire-12 figure equates to just 0.72% of the England total of 64,960. In the wider Lancashire-14 area the 188 homeless households in priority need in Blackpool formed over a quarter of the Lancashire-14 total of 654 (1% of England). Again, missing returns for one quarter in Ribble Valley prevent the Lancashire totals from being regarded as exact.
Table 2: Households accepted as homeless and in priority need, April 2023 to March 2024
| Area | Total main duty decisions for eligible households |
Homeless + priority need + unintentionally homeless (acceptance) |
|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 168 | 44 |
| Chorley | 102 | 26 |
| Fylde | 76 | 61 |
| Hyndburn | 23 | 5 |
| Lancaster | 298 | 119 |
| Pendle | 34 | 9 |
| Preston | 93 | 32 |
| Ribble Valley(3) | 9 | 8 |
| Rossendale | 38 | 29 |
| South Ribble | 181 | 102 |
| West Lancashire | 61 | 31 |
| Wyre | 27 | 0 |
| Lancashire-12 | c1,110 | c466 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 3 | 0 |
| Blackpool | 334 | 188 |
| Lancashire-14 | c1,447 | c654 |
| North West | 15,320 | 8,430 |
| England | 94,280 | 64,960 |
Source: Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, live tables on homelessness (Table MD1).
Households in temporary accommodation
For England as a whole, households in temporary accommodation increased substantially from 77,220 in the 2016/17 financial year to 99,888 in 2022/23, which is some 4,200 more than in the previous year. Those in Lancashire-12 have increased by 25.6% to 285 households compared to 2021/22, which is just 0.29% of the England figure.
Table 3 Households living in temporary accommodation, 2016/17 to 2022/23
| Area |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 7 | 26 | 25 | 23 |
| Chorley | 23 | 30 | 29 | 37 |
| Fylde | 16 | 10 | 9 | 26 |
| Hyndburn | 2 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Lancaster | 6‡ | 40╬ | 31 | 34± |
| Pendle | 4 | 12 | 10 | 15 |
| Preston | 32 | 72 | 41± | 50‡ |
| Ribble Valley(3) | 6 | 4 | 4± | 8 |
| Rossendale | 2 | 8 | 11 | 17 |
| South Ribble | 32 | 41 | 43 | 49 |
| West Lancashire | 4 | 12 | 15 | 21 |
| Wyre | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Lancashire-12 | 133 | 250 | 227 | 285 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 5 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Blackpool | 48 | 114 | 121 | 118 |
| Lancashire-14 | 186 | 384 | 367 | 428 |
| North West | ||||
| England | 88,533 | 95,855 | 95,688 | 99,888 |
Source: Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, live tables on homelessness (Table 784 [2015/16 – 2017/18] and Table TA1* [2018/19 – 2022/23, average of 4 quarters]). Figure is average of just ±three quarters, ‡ two quarters, ╬ one quarter.
Rough sleepers
For autumn 2023, estimates were provided by local authorities that together came to 76 rough sleepers in the Lancashire-12 area and 103 in the Lancashire-14 area. For England as a whole the figure was 3,898.
The full article on this topic including background information, tables and links to related websites can be downloaded from the box below.
Further analysis
Homeless households 2022/23 and rough sleepers 2023 - full article (PDF 260 KB)
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities have published a dashboard containing the tables on homelessness, and shows figures for selected local authorities. There is also a dashboard relating to rough sleeping from the same department. We have put in links to these on the lower Related Websites panel on the right.
Page updated March 2024