Ms Buck highlighted the traumatic impact of homelessness on individuals and families, noting that over the past 30 years, successive waves of people have faced housing crises due to a lack of stable, affordable social housing. She pointed out that local authorities are required to secure accommodation within their own district but this is often not adhered to in practice, with many councils placing homeless households outside their boroughs. In her borough of Westminster alone, 55% of the 2,217 homeless households were accommodated outside the borough last year. She emphasised that placing people out-of-borough increases pressure on local housing stock and other services, and has severe impacts on physical and mental health, educational achievement, and community ties.