The storm caused severe damage, ripping roofs off homes and public buildings, toppling electric poles, destroying solar-powered streetlights, and devastating cash crops.

In response, the Awu Elites Club has issued an urgent Save-Our-Soul appeal to Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, requesting immediate intervention.

The worst-hit communities include Ogbe-Idibon, Igbogili, Ekwueze, and Oyoko.

In a letter dated March 13, 2025, signed by President Prince Frank Moses Jegbefume and Secretary General Mr. Emeke Oseki, the club emphasized the severe impact of the disaster. While no lives were lost, several residents sustained injuries requiring medical treatment.

The destruction of electric poles has left parts of the community in darkness, while damaged streetlights have heightened security concerns at night. Many residents, unable to afford repairs, are now stranded.

The Awu Elites Club stressed the urgent need for government assistance, noting that the disaster has caused severe physical, psychological, and financial strain on affected families.

The appeal was also forwarded to:

Member, Ika Federal Constituency, House of Representatives

Member, Ika South Constituency, Delta State House of Assembly

Chairman, Ika South Local Government Area

As the community grapples with this crisis, they await swift government action to restore normalcy and provide relief.

The post Windstorm Leaves Hundreds Homeless in Abavo, Delta State appeared first on Housing TV Africa.

More than a dozen councils in the capital have collectively spent millions buying up more than 850 properties in towns and cities across England since 2017, Guardian analysis of property ownership data found.

The homes are either owned directly by councils or by companies they partly or wholly own. They are used to house homeless individuals and families, either temporarily in emergency accommodation or permanently in privately rented homes.

Most of the homes are in deprived areas in the south-east and east of England that are already under huge pressures due to homelessness among their own residents. But in the past year London councils have looked farther afield, buying up a small number of properties in the Midlands and laying out plans to buy more in north-east England.

Housing charities said families’ lives were thrown into “turmoil” by being moved away from their communities. Labour MPs urged the government to reconsider its approach to the “scarring” out-of-area placements, which are at their highest levels since records began.

Waltham Forest and Bromley councils, via companies they jointly own with the housing and social care company Mears Group, have collectively spent almost £80m buying more than 500 homes in areas including Harlow and Thurrock in Essex and Maidstone in Kent since 2017. Both councils use these properties to discharge their homelessness duties and permanently rehouse people out of London.

Brent council has spent more than £18m buying 75 properties across Milton Keynes, Hemel Hempstead and Slough, while Barnet council has spent more than £10m buying nearly 70 properties in Peterborough and Luton. Brent and Barnet used companies they wholly owned to make these purchases since 2017.

Housing Gateway, a company wholly owned by Enfield council, spent £13m in 2018 buying Greenway House, a converted office block on the outskirts of Harlow with 83 flats that are used as temporary accommodation.

The Guardian previously revealed that councils had paid millions to relocation companies to help them permanently move homeless people to the Midlands and north of England. Recent property purchases suggest that some London councils are starting to move the practice in-house.

In December, Enfield council laid out plans to buy 28 homes through Housing Gateway around Liverpool this year. It said these properties would initially be used as temporary accommodation with the aim of finding homeless households long-term housing in the area once relocated.

Harlow is the most popular local authority for London councils to buy homes in, with 164 properties acquired there since 2017.

Many of the homes bought are concentrated in areas where hundreds of households are already homeless. Eighty-four homes owned by London councils are in Basildon in Essex, where nearly 700 households are living in emergency accommodation.

Basildon council’s leader, Gavin Callaghan, has previously said his authority had no choice but to find local people new homes in the north of England because its own housing stock was being used by London councils.

MPs have been increasingly vocal about out-of-area placements. Government data shows the number of households placed in temporary accommodation outsidetheir borough is at an all-time high, with a 39% rise in such placements in the past 12 months.

Florence Eshalomi, a Labour MP who is the chair of the housing, communities and local government parliamentary committee, said: “Out-of-area placements force some of our most vulnerable families away from desperately needed support and devastate the life chances of children, who end up travelling for hours simply to go to school.

“This is the result of the toxic mix of the housing crisis and the stretching of local council finances to breaking point. The government’s long-term housing strategy must give local authorities the support and supply to ensure everyone has access to the right housing and support in their own community.”

Naushabah Khan, the Labour MP for Gillingham and Rainham, who also sits on the housing committee, said: “The negative impact of out-of-borough placements is the scarring legacy of a deeply damaged housing market that was neglected under 14 years of a Conservative government. As local councils struggle with an ongoing housing crisis, this last-resort practice has become the norm.”

Polly Neate, the chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, said: “On top of the trauma of becoming homeless, families’ lives are being thrown into further turmoil by being moved miles away from their communities, often overnight. Councils are meant to accommodate families who become homeless in their own area, but a dire shortage of social homes, extortionate private rents, and record homelessness is making this increasingly difficult.

“Instead of sinking money into temporary solutions, we need to see social homes built in areas where they are most needed.”

Waltham Forest council said the purpose of its housing company was to provide long-term good-quality homes to discharge the council’s homelessness duties and move households on from temporary accommodation. It said loans used to buy these homes were taken out by the company itself, not the council, and they did not appear on council balance sheets.

Bromley council said its policy was to secure housing in or as near to Bromley as possible but, as it receives lower funding as an outer London borough, many local homes were unaffordable, forcing it to look farther afield. It said its housing companies were primarily partner-funded.

Barnet council said when it placed people in temporary accommodation it ensured it was in or as close as possible to the borough. It said neither the council nor any of its subsidiaries had bought homes outside the borough since 2020.

Redbridge council said all properties it had acquired were being used as temporary accommodation but it aimed to use these homes to provide longer-term settled tenancies by discharging its homelessness duty through a housing company.

Brent council said the vast majority of homes bought via its housing company were in London and it was working to build council housing to deal with the 34,000 people on its housing waiting list. It added that none had been bought outside London since 2021.

The post London councils buy £140m of property to move homeless people out of city appeared first on Housing TV Africa.

Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, is renowned for its stunning architecture, sleek streets, and status as Africa’s fastest-growing city.

However, beneath its glossy exterior lies a stark contrast—a growing number of residents grappling with the harsh realities of poverty and homelessness. Drawn to the city by the promise of a better life, many Nigerians find themselves without shelter, taking refuge in abandoned buildings and vehicles.

The influx of people into Abuja is evident in data from Macrotrend, which reveals that the city’s population surged by over 22.81% from 2020 to 2024, reaching 4,026,000. Despite its allure, Abuja’s soaring cost of living has forced many into desperate circumstances. For instance, an abandoned hospital in Utako now houses over 100 people, including children, living in squalor without basic amenities.

READ ALSO: Heavy Rains in Jigawa Cause Major Flooding, Leave Many Homeless

Among them is Binta Yahuza, a 42-year-old who fled insecurity in Katsina State, only to face the brutal reality of homelessness in Abuja. Binta is one of 24.4 million Nigerians classified as homeless in 2023, according to the World Population Review. She struggles daily to make ends meet, selling tofu while her children assist by frying yam.

Similarly, 30-year-old Chioma Sunday and her family have been living in an abandoned building after their shanty home was demolished. Despite her efforts to sustain her family by selling moi moi, the rising cost of living has forced her to send two of her children to the village.

Others, like taxi driver Basiru Isah, have turned their vehicles into makeshift homes. The rising fuel prices and high cost of living have made it impossible for them to afford rented accommodation, compelling them to sleep in their cars.

READ ALSO: Scottish Government Declares Housing Emergency Amidst Rising Homelessness and High Rents

A 2019 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) report cited a housing deficit of over 17-22 million units, driven by poverty, overpopulation, and urban migration. By 2023, this deficit had grown to over 28 million, according to Dataphyte. The lack of affordable housing, compounded by high-interest rates and the impacts of insecurity, banditry, and natural disasters, has left many Nigerians struggling to secure a stable home.

For people like Sunday Dako and Shehu Abdullahi, both taxi drivers, their cars have become their only refuge. They grapple with the dual burden of high fuel costs and unaffordable rent, forcing them to choose between sustaining their livelihoods and providing shelter for their families.

READ ALSO: Jay Jay Okocha Builds 100 Bungalow Houses For The Poor And Homeless People 

The stories of Abuja’s homeless reveal a side of the city that is often overlooked—a reality where the pursuit of a better life has led to unforeseen hardships, leaving many to survive in the shadows of the nation’s capital.

The post Homeless in the Capital: Nigerians Seek Shelter in Cars and Abandoned Buildings appeared first on Housing TV Africa.