Oldham had only one rough sleeper at the end of last year

It comes as new figures show there were 196 households in temporary accommodation in Oldham on December 31, 2020 – 26 more than the year before and including 163 children.

As lockdown measures took hold, the Everyone In campaign contributed to a national rise of 8 per cent in households living in temporary accommodation between winter 2019 to the same period last year.

The Everyone In scheme, saw local authorities work to provide emergency accommodation to as many people in need as possible, other pandemic measures included a restriction on evictions and lengthened notice periods for landlords.

Helen Lockwood, deputy chief executive of Oldham council, said the council had worked closely with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Ministry of housing as well as local partners to ensure the Everyone In scheme was rolled out.

She said: “The temporary accommodation increase in Oldham was due to many factors including the pandemic and responding quickly to local pressures from residents in need. From August 2020 last year, we extended assistance to residents at risk of rough sleeping who normally would be ineligible under government legislation. As a result of this it led to an increase in families and individuals in temporary accommodation.

“Our teams have been working hard throughout the pandemic and Oldham recorded only one rough sleeper at the end of last year. We know this number is not zero, but we’re working with partners across Oldham to make sure no one has to spend a night on the streets.”