ALMOST 2,000 households in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole were tipped into homelessness during the first 18 months of the coronavirus pandemic, figures reveal.

Housing charity Shelter said thousands of families across the country have become homeless during the Covid-19 crisis, and with living costs rising, more are at risk now.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities figures show that 1,914 households in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole sought council support after becoming homeless between April 2020 and the end of September 2021.

Of those, 324 were households with children.

Bailiff-enforced evictions were banned for a large part of the pandemic – a measure introduced by the Government to prevent renters from being made homeless – though the ban was lifted in England on May 31.

In Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, 313 households needed help because they were homeless during the first three full months' after the ban was lifted – up from 298 during the same period in 2020.

Councillor Hazel Allen, lead member for homelessness said: "In the past year, we have received 4,000 applications from households homeless or threatened with homelessness. We understand that it is extremely difficult times and we are working together with partners across the area to support people in the prevention of homelessness through a range of initiatives.

"Our Early Prevention Service is available to help those as early as possible - before the landlord/agent issues them with notice that they intend to evict.

"A grant of £381,000 was awarded to BCP Council in November last year to support residents who are privately renting and are struggling to meet their payments due to the negative impact of COVID-19.

"The Council's Housing Options Services provides advice and assistance to households who are finding it difficult to sustain their accommodation or looking for somewhere else to live. Local demand for assistance is usually high but has increased in the past year, with supply of social rented providing a home for around 700 local households in the greatest housing need each year.

"We have an ambitious new build programme in place on council owned sites where we are building much needed additional affordable housing to add to our Council Housing stock. We are also working with Housing Associations to also deliver affordable housing. The demand for housing of all tenure types is high in BCP, as it is in most areas, so we are working with our many partners to increase the overall supply of new homes for our residents."

If you are worried and are at risk of losing your home go to our website below for more information where you can also find out how you can access the Early Prevention service. At risk of becoming homeless (bcpcouncil.gov.uk).