Housing issues and homelessness concerns are rising in Richmond borough, according to disability charity Richmond AID.

Over 20% of Richmond AID's housing enquiries now concern homelessness, and in 2024 they had 550 clients enquire about housing issues.

The charity began running monthly community housing forums in May 2024, in response to the rise in concerns they were receiving.

Campaign Officer Andrea Novella told Nub News: "The amount of work we have in relation to housing, it just keeps increasing.

"It's a real issue in the community."

The housing forums are part of their larger housing campaign, which aims to help deaf and disabled people in Richmond understand their rights, and create change within the community.

The charity said their biggest goals are to reach an increase in stock of housing, both in general and in social housing, as well as accessible, affordable housing. 

Richmond AID said prevalent concerns discussed in their forums include housing disrepairs and evictions.

Problems with mould, condensation and leaks in social housing are often left unchanged for months or years.

Section 21 'no-fault' evictions are a common concern, leading to homelessness and homelessness prevention issues.

Novella added: "People need to be heard, a voice needs to be given to people and changes need to be made, it needs to be heard by everyone.

"Action needs to be wanted for change to happen."

Richmond AID aims to create a better relationship between the council, local residents and voluntary organisations with similar missions.

Their biggest success so far is the community they have created.

Novella continued: "It is not only about the big changes, but the individual changes that we see and how people feel more empowered, how they can raise their issues."

"That's been the biggest success, creating this community in Richmond, and we just hope to have more and more people join us."

The charity's work in housing focuses on a range of issues from housing adaptions to the Disabled Facilities Grant.

Clients even rely on them for help applying to the Housing Register or the Homeless Prevention Form.

Their advice teams supported about 4,000 people on a range of disability issues between 2023-2024.

If you have housing issues and would like to share your experience, please contact Richmond AID at [email protected].