A ‘hardworking family man’ took his own life after he and his family became homeless when they were evicted from their privately-rented home, a coroner has said.
The family was forced to live in ‘separate locations’, with Paul Williams forced to sleep inside a vehicle during the week, the coroner has said.
An inquest into his death heard they were classed as a ‘priority case’, but that ‘a shortage of public housing’ meant they had to wait almost three months for something suitable.
A coroner said the situation ‘had a significant impact’ on Mr Williams’ mental health and ‘contributed to his deteriorating condition’. He was sadly found dead in Heaton Chapel, Stockport, in July last year.
Senior coroner Alison Mutch has now expressed a series of concerns over the case after the inquest, which was heard at Stockport Coroners’ Court.
The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 gives coroners the opportunity to make reports to a person, organisation, local authority or Government department or agency where they believe action should be taken to prevent future deaths. The coroner has sent her report into the death of Mr Williams to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Ms Mutch recorded a conclusion of suicide. The inquest heard Mr Williams was found hanged outside a Screwfix store on the Whitehall Industrial Estate in Heaton Chapel on July 9, 2024.
No age for him was given in publicly-available documents. The tragedy wasn’t treated by police as suspicions.
(Image: Gary Oakley/Manchester Evening News)
Ms Mutch said evidence given during the course of the inquest ‘revealed matters giving rise to concern’. “In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken,” she added.
Her report said: “The inquest heard that Paul Williams was a hard-working family man in employment.
“He and his family had been evicted from their privately-rented accommodation and became homeless. They were given a period of two weeks to leave the property and find alternative accommodation. Whilst looking for accommodation the family was forced to live in separate locations. In his case that included living in a vehicle in the week.
“The inquest was told that the family was a priority case, but a shortage of public housing meant that in total they had to wait almost three months before suitable accommodation became available.
“The evidence before the inquest was that the housing situation, including the eviction, the homelessness and need to live separately whilst waiting for suitable accommodation to become available, had a significant impact on his mental health and contributed to his deteriorating condition.”
No further details were given and the landlord wasn’t named in the report.
The government revealed plans before Christmas to build 1.5m new homes within the next five years to combat a housing shortage. Individual councils are said to have been given specified building targets.
