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About homelessness

Facts about homelessness

• What?
• Why?
• Triggers?
• Impact

What is homelessness?

The following information is taken from the Homeless Link website:

Different definitions of homelessness are used in different contexts but it is generally accepted that homeless people include rough sleepers and people in temporary accommodation and hostels. Some people argue that people in insecure or inadequate accommodation should also be seen as homeless and the law reflects this to some extent.

Local councils have responsibilities to support homeless people under homelessness law. To decide if someone is legally homeless they will assess whether:

• they have no home anywhere in the world where they can live together with their immediate family or
• they can only stay where they are on a very temporary basis or
• it is not reasonable for them to stay in their home because of violence or because of the condition of the property.

But not everyone who meets this statutory definition of homelessness gets real help from councils. People without children are only entitled to temporary accommodation and permanent rehousing if they are pregnant, vulnerable or homeless in an emergency.

Why does homelessness exist?

Taken from Homeless Link website:

Any of us could become homeless, but you are more likely to become homeless if you:

Were in care as a child or had a disturbed childhood

• 12 per of rough sleepers contacted in London have been in care.

Have a mental illness or addiction

• Around 8% of all households accepted as homeless are considered to be in priority need on grounds of mental illness.
• 30-50% of rough sleepers have mental health needs.
• A 2002 study found that 70 per cent of rough sleepers misuse drugs and half are dependent on alcohol.

Have been in the armed forces

• 6 per cent of rough sleepers contacted in London have been in the armed forces.

Have spent time in prison

• 42 per cent of rough sleepers contacted in London have been in prison.
• Re-offending rates are affected by housing. Home Office research suggests that stable accommodation can reduce reconviction rates by over 20%.

Are black or from another minority ethnic community

• According to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) ethnic minority households are around three times more likely to become statutorily homeless than the majority white population. Black African and black Carribean groups are especially vulnerable to homelessness, being twice as likely to be accepted as homeless as people of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin.
• DCLG research into overcrowding also shows that BME groups are significantly more likely to live in overcrowded conditions, especially in London. For whites the national rate of overcrowding is 1.8 per cent, but for BME groups it is 11 per cent. In London the rate for whites rises to 4 per cent, and for BME groups to 13 per cent.

Have migrated to this country from Eastern or central European or arrived as an asylum seeker

• Homeless Link research found that 15 per cent of people accessing London's day centres, night shelters and outreach teams in March 2006 were A8 nationals.
• Research by Broadway found that in a one night count of London hostels 19 per cent of bed spaces were occupied by refugees and asylum seekers (vast majority were refugees).

Structural risk factors

On top of ‘personal’ factors there are ‘structural’ factors, wider problems in society, that increase the risk of homelessness:

• Shortage of affordable accommodation
• Unemployment
• Low incomes
• Debt
• Welfare benefits system
• Trends in residential care and community care
• Migration – e.g. economic migrants from accession states, refugees.

What are the triggers?

Taken from Homeless Link website:

As well as the personal and structural risk factors, we now understand the main routes into homelessness. Specific events can precipitate homelessness.

These ‘triggers’ include:

• relationship breakdown
• domestic violence
• leaving home or care
• leaving institutions (hospital, armed forces, prison)
• the death of a spouse or partner
• getting into debt, especially mortgage or rent arrears

The figures for households accepted as homeless by local authorities in the second quarter of 2006 show the following breakdown of the reasons for homelessness:

Source: DCLG

Many people are not just homeless. There are other complications in their lives that make them more vulnerable.

Impact of homelessness

Taken from Homeless Link website:

It is often difficult to disentangle the support needs that people develop as a result of homelessness from issues that made them vulnerable to homelessness in the first place. However, many studies have shown a correlation between several aspects of social exclusion/vulnerability and homelessness.

The below list outlines some of the issues associated with homelessness in terms of education, employment and health.

Education

• Children in temporary accommodation miss out on a quarter of their schooling.
• More than half of homeless people want to engage in learning and skills development, but only a fifth do at present.
• 37% of homeless people have no qualifications (compared to 10% of the general population).

Health

• The life expectancy of someone sleeping rough is estimated to be 42 year, half that of the average UK citizen and worse than Ethiopia or the Republic of Congo.
• Homeless households, in particular ‘single homeless’ and rough sleepers, have a higher prevalence of physical and mental health problems and the experience of homelessness often exacerbates problems.
• 2004 research found 10 per cent of TB patients have a history of homelessness and 4 per cent were sleeping rough.

Employment

• Lack of suitable accommodation or the cost of housing is a barrier to accessing employment reported by a third of single homeless people.
• A study by one provider revealed that 20 years ago a majority (84%) of its clients were in paid employment, whereas less than 5% were in 2005.
• Over three quarters of homeless people (77%) in hostels when interviewed want to work and 97% say they want to work sometime in the future.
• Unless they get help at the right time this can leave someone sleeping rough.