The UK is in the midst of a homelessness epidemic. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), 440 homeless people died on the streets of the UK this year. Birmingham has seen a 2,000%  increase in homelessness since 2009/10.  Nationally, around 59,000 households were accepted by councils to be housed in 2016/17. Some estimates suggest that more than 300,000 people hidden away in hostels, temporary shelters or unsuitable and overcrowded accommodation.

Additionally, UK is also in the middle of a housing crisis. According to official figures, about 50,000 new homes are needed every year to keep up with the demand in London. But only just 6,423 homes were completed between April 2016 and March 2017. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) rents are expected to rise by 15 per cent in the next five years due to a lack of supply.

The scale of the problem is immense, but are the solutions to it just as big? If you want to find out then please come to our event on Monday the 19^th November 7-9pm, where we will be joined two amazing speakers with experience on housing who could give us some answers.

Farah Hussain is a Young Fabians member and a councillor in the London Borough of Redbridge where she is Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness. In this role, Farah is responsible for homelessness services, including rough sleeping, management of existing council houses and the building of new council homes, and the regulation of the private rented sector.  Farah is leading the Council's largest council home building programme for a generation, successfully introduced private sector licensing in 80% of the borough and has transformed homelessness services in order to focus on prevention. As a private renter herself,  Farah has been the victim of your housing crisis and is passionate about ensuring everyone in Redbridge has a decent and secure place to call home.

Becky Tunstall is former Director of the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York and now Professor Emerita of Housing. Her most recent research is the Social Housing evidence review commissioned by MHCLG as background for the social housing green paper (with Nicholas Pleace), and a review of the impact of the budget on housing for the Women's Budget Group. She has also researched inequalities in housing space, who gains from new development, discrimination against people from areas with poor reputations, mixed communities, and many other policy topics.

So if you are interested in learning more about the homelessness and the housing crisis then please feel free to come along Tuesday the 19th November.