A/HRC/25/54/Add.2 make sure children would eat first, sometimes only one meal per day. Some could not see alternatives, as they already worked full time but still struggled to make ends meet. B. Homelessness 61. The Home Truths 2012 survey for East England shows an increase in homelessness of 44 per cent in just two years in the region. Among the contributing factors, the National Housing Federation notes a shortage of homes in the region and the surge in housing prices. The most affected are young people and families. The average house price in 2010 (approximately 195,000 pounds) was nearly 7.5 times the median regional income.79 62. Homelessness is of particular concern in relation to children. It generates displacement from schools and health services and may lead to a series of changes from one temporary accommodation into another.80 Also, the Local Government Ombudsman, in her report “No place like home” (October 2013), noted that the number of complaints linked to homelessness has risen by 14 per cent since 2011, in particular the inappropriate use of bed and breakfast accommodation as a stop-gap, including for families with children. 63. The Special Rapporteur was told how access to legal aid made a difference, for example, for women (and children) fleeing domestic violence, or for young or single people who are on zero-hour contracts who could easily fall into rent arrears and face eviction as a consequence. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, in effect since April 2013, imposed significant cuts in legal aid directly affecting the homeless. Legal aid remains available for those on low incomes at immediate risk of losing their homes, but ceases to exist in the context of family disputes, welfare benefit problems, and early intervention to deal with housing debts before court. The changes to legal aid may also have an adverse impact on access to justice that is incompatible with equality law, since in family law cases following domestic violence, legal aid will be available only if certain evidence is provided — a high evidential threshold for many victims.81 C. Persons with disabilities and persons who are ill 64. The plight of persons with disabilities deeply touched the Special Rapporteur. She learned from their strength and welcomed their active engagement in discussing adequate housing from their perspective, and in sharing their testimonies. 65. At the root of many testimonies lies the threat to a hard-won right to live independently. For persons with physical and mental disabilities, as well as for the chronically ill, adequate housing means living in homes that are adapted to specific needs; close to services, care and facilities allowing them to carry out their daily routines; and in the vicinity of friends, relatives or a community essential to leading lives in dignity and freedom. Often, the compounded impact of an acute shortage of adapted and affordable accommodation, combined with other changes to the welfare system, has left them “between a rock and a hard place”: downsizing or facing rent arrears and eviction. Many testimonies refer to anxiety, stress and suicidal thoughts as a result, precisely the type of situations that should be avoided at all costs. Serious concerns about the direct impact of 79 80 81 16 DCLG, Live tables on housing market and house prices, Tables 577 and 586. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, submission for this report. Fitzpatrick et al., The Homelessness Monitor (footnote 63), pp. 28–29. See also the shadow report submitted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2013), para. 6.