BLACK families in Croydon are twice as likely to be homeless as any others, analysis of new figures has shown.
Of the 912 families accepted as homeless in the last financial year, 46 per cent were black – more than double the proportion in the borough's population as a whole.
Homelessness is at an eight-year high overall but black families have been disproportionately affected, with the number living in temporary accommodation having doubled in three years.
Nero Ughwujabo, chief executive of Croydon Black and Minority Ethnic Forum, is to write to council leader Mike Fisher to call for urgent action.
The council said it recognised the issue and has plans to increase the supply of temporary accommodation.
Mr Ughwujabo said: "The council is good at identifying problems but we need solutions. This is a long term problem and something credible needs to be done."
Of the families accepted as homeless in 2012/13, 424 (46 per cent) were black, 274 were white (29 per cent) and 68 were Asian (7.4 per cent).
According to the 2011 Census, 20.2 per cent of Croydon's population are black or African Caribbean and 55.1 per cent are white.
While the number of black families in Croydon has increased significantly over the last decade, and deprivation and unemployment are greater in areas of the borough where these communities are more prevalent, the gap is widening.
Figures published by the Government last month show homelessness is 63 per cent higher in black communities. In 2010/11 that figure was 49 per cent while in 2004/05 white families made up the higher proportion.
The dichotomy is not confined to statutory homelessness. Around 40 per cent of the rough sleepers seen at charity Nightwatch's evening drop-in at Queen's Gardens are black, Afro-Caribbean or mixed race. Croydon Association for Young Single Homeless (CAYSH), which tackles homelessness among 15 to 21-year-olds, also sees a disproportionate number of people from BME communities.
Gee Barnard, founder of Croydon Afro Caribbean Family Organisation, blamed unemployment and said elders within the communities are becoming increasingly unable to help young relatives to move out of overcrowded homes.
"BME families tend to have extended families," said Mr Ughwujabo, "which is part of the reason they are more likely to be homeless, because when their homes become too crowded, people are forced out on to the street.
"Specific action needs to be taken to address the issue of ethnicity and homelessness. These families end up costing the public purse a lot more, and there are other problems in terms of committing crime or being victims of crime like domestic violence."
Croydon Council is in the process of finalising plans to borrow £40 million to buy hundreds of homes to use as temporary accommodation.
Its housing task force is analysing the impact of the benefit cap, trialled in the borough since April, while the council plans to build 42 new homes, convert redundant council buildings, such as former children's homes, and bring empty homes back into use.
A spokesman said: "The aim of these measures is to increase the supply of temporary accommodation for homeless households, which the council knows includes a disproportionate number of BME households."
