More than 500 children were evicted from social housing in Wales last year, according to a new report from Shelter Cymru.
The charity found many social landlords were failing to help stop families from becoming homeless, warning that the consequences of the evictions cost the Welsh economy £24.3m a year.
The study – Accessing and sustaining social tenancies – found that referrals to homelessness services were ‘erratic’, with more than half of tenants not accessing Housing Solutions services either before or after their eviction.
Jennie Bibbings, campaigns manager for Shelter Cymru, also said some landlords were failing to follow even the basic minimum of the rent arrears pre-action protocol.
She said: ‘One proposed solution is to scrap the current protocol and replace it with a set of pre-action requirements, similar to those in place in Scotland.
‘Landlords would have to show the court evidence that they’d taken reasonable steps to follow the requirements – which might include interventions such as money advice, help with benefits applications, a support needs assessment, referral to Housing Solutions and independent housing advice.’
The study also found that 77% of people interviews were still homeless six months after their eviction.