FAMILIES falling out are fuelling Eastleigh's homelessness figures, a council report has revealed.

More young people have been knocking on the council's door after coming to loggerheads with parents.

Parental eviction figures have been rising over the past five years. Latest statistics show 46 cases compared with 30 in 1998/99.

These are the number of households where the full homelessness duty was accepted by the council.

However this is just the tip of the iceberg. Family or other relationship breakdowns are one of the major underlying causes of homelessness in Eastleigh.

Domestic violence is another significant factor of why people are being forced to look for another home.

Now council chiefs are stepping up efforts to get families talking around the table in a bid to prevent people ending up without a roof over their heads.

A report on the council's homelessness strategy says that family mediation can help prevent homelessness among teenagers in particular.

Now the council is to boost its family mediation efforts by appointing a special housing officer who will act as a listening ear and help to rebuild bridges where family feuds have led to a housing crisis.

Eastleigh's head of housing services Amanda Jobling says: "We want to try to sort out the problem before it becomes too difficult."

Major aim of the council's homelessness strategy for 2003 is to prevent homelessness through early intervention.

Meanwhile a survey of housing has revealed that the borough should be providing more than 600 new units of affordable social housing every year just to keep pace.

Housing chiefs have warned that there is unlikely to be enough land available to meet this target.