More than a dozen homeless deaths in Milton Keynes in past five years

More than a dozen homeless people have died in Milton Keynes over the past five years, new figures show.

They come as Shelter called the situation across England and Wales “utterly awful and unacceptable”.

Every year, the Office for National Statistics collates deaths of homeless people under the age of 75, their location, ages, and cause of death.

The latest estimates from the ONS suggest there were 15 deaths in Milton Keynes between 2017 and 2021.

There were no deaths in the area last year, with the last death of a homeless person occurring in 2020.

Despite this, across the two countries, the ONS estimates 741 homeless people died in 2021, up 8% from 688 the year before, but down from a peak of 788 in 2019.

The total number of deaths includes people who were identified from death records held by the ONS, together with an estimate of the most likely number of additional registrations not identified as homeless people.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said they are looking at "one of the toughest winters yet" as rents rise while housing benefits stay frozen.

“The Government promised to end rough sleeping, but things are getting worse not better.

"They must immediately unfreeze and increase housing benefit to protect people from the ravages of homelessness this winter, and to keep people off the streets for good it has to invest in building good quality, supported social homes.”

Separate figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show there were 1,479 households presenting as homeless in Milton Keynes in the year to March.

Shelter's comments were echoed by the charity Crisis, which said its services are preparing for “an incredibly challenging winter, with thousands facing the brutality of homelessness as the rising cost of living pushes them to breaking point”.

Chief executive Matt Downie said: "These dire economic times must not lead to more people falling through the cracks and dying needlessly on our streets."

Across the South East, there have been an estimated 411 deaths of homeless people in the past five years.