THE shock rise in Liverpool's homeless families is being mainly blamed on the boom in house prices.
To many, it is seen as the social problem waiting to happen.
Certainly, the phenomenal rise in property values has played an undeniable part in destabilising the lower end of the market, not least due to wholesale speculative buying, often by outsiders.
But that is only the latest aspect of a thorny predicament, which has seen the numbers registered with the city council as homeless rise by an incredible 44% in just six months.
Hostel accommodation is full to overflowing and emergency measures have had to be taken.
These include putting hundreds of families into hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation at a cost of between £15 and £30 per room per night.
Clearly the situation cannot be allowed to continue unchecked.
Once short-term measures are in place, a long-term strategy has to be worked out.
This will require considerable moral obligations throughout the public and private sectors.
It is no longer feasible to simply build more council housing. That is a thing of the past.
Councils, not just on Merseyside, but throughout the country, cannot afford to bear all the responsibility for replenishing stock lost during the heyday of Thatcherism's 'right to buy' crusade.
The way forward lies in ensuring unhampered progress with the government's £1.9bn scheme to build new mixed economy homes in the region, which are actually affordable to ordinary people to either buy or rent.
Measures are also needed to curb the worst excesses of speculative buying to rent, which has seen some tenants used as little more than pawns in a fast moving game of get rich quick.
Meanwhile, the council can help positively by speeding up the long-standing backlog of repairs, albeit to their much diminished council house stock.
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