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| A night on the streets: Britain’s homeless crisis – live | A night on the streets: Britain’s homeless crisis – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 7.49pm GMT | |
| 19:49 | |
| Tonight we met... the Choir with no name | |
| Josh Halliday | |
| In Birmingham, around 30 people are huddled in Carrs Lane Church, in the city centre. The two things they all have in common? They’ve currently homeless or have spent time on the streets - and they love belting out a good song. | |
| They’re The Choir With No Name, a choir for homeless people that started in Birmingham five years ago after being founded in London in 2009. For some, it’s a lifeline - somewhere to socialise, sing and escape whatever misery they’re currently going through. | |
| 7.39pm GMT | |
| 19:39 | |
| Amelia Gentleman, who wrote a moving piece about homelessness this week, has been asking Sarah Macfadyen, policy manager with homelessness charity Crisis, for the reasons behind this new spike. | |
| 1) What has caused this sharp rise in rough sleeping? | |
| More and more households are struggling to pay their rent in an increasingly insecure market – the loss of a private tenancy is now the number one cause of homelessness in England. Meanwhile cuts to housing benefit and local authority homelessness services and the implementation of benefits sanctions have left the safety net in tatters. | |
| 2) Is Crisis depressed to see this problem re-emerge, only a few years after a period of optimism about reductions in rough sleeping? | |
| The rise in rough sleeping is devastating- the realities of life on the streets are truly horrific: the average age of death of a homeless people is just 47, which is 30 years lower than the general population, while people who sleep rough are far more likely to be dependent on drugs or alcohol or to suffer from mental illness than the general population. Physical health conditions are common, particularly respiratory problems. | |
| Homeless people are over nine times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, deaths as a result of infections are twice as likely and they are 13 times more likely to be a victim of violence. | |
| 3) Who is to blame? | |
| We know that the economic downturn and the long term housing shortage has played a role, but what our research clearly shows is that political choices have a huge impact on homelessness. Recent research by Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation showed that benefit cuts are taking a dreadful toll on people’s lives, with rising numbers facing the loss of their home at a time when councils are being forced to cut services. | |
| 4) What should the government do? | |
| The Government has made positive steps towards tackling homelessness in recent months, but the latest rise in rough sleeping is a stark and sobering reminder of how much needs to be done. | |
| We urgently need a change in the law so that all homeless people can get the help they need. The shocking truth is that even in the 21st century, homeless people who ask their councils for help are being turned away to sleep on the streets. We also need to see funding protected and, critically, a wide-ranging reform of private renting | |
| 5) How can people help when they see people sleeping rough? | |
| The best thing to do is to call Streetlink on 0300 500 0914, which helps connect rough sleepers to outreach services in their area. You can also donate to a local homelessness charity or volunteer. | |
| 7.24pm GMT | |
| 19:24 | |
| Tonight we met... Adekola Adepoju | |
| Josh Halliday | |
| Growing up in Nigeria, Adekola Adepoju – or Kola to his mates – appeared destined for greatness. He was top of his class in almost every subject, representing his school in everything from debating to dance (he does a mean robot). | |
| But then, on 29 December 2003, everything changed. And it changed dramatically. Then 20 years old, Kola was driving to the beach with a friend when their car smashed into roadworks, sending it spinning through the air. His right femur was broken; his right ankle obliterated. The injuries to his head were grave: large scars are still visible on the base and right-side of his skull, where his hair cannot grow back. | |
| The accident left him in intensive care for three months. When he was released, he could not walk or recognise his own mother. Once the poster boy of his school, Kola had to relearn his ABCs. | |
| I believe there will always be challenges but I don’t let the negative thoughts weigh me down,” he says in the homeless drop-in centre, Sifa Fireside, in Birmingham. “I keep focusing on the positives. I know I don’t pay for the air that I breathe through my nose so I thank god for that. I always think: today will be hard but tomorrow will be better.” | |
| Kola, now 32, has been homeless in Birmingham for four years. He came to Britain in 2009 to study at Anglia Ruskin university in Cambridge on a scholarship paid for by his secondary school in Nigeria, so proud are they of his intellect. | |
| The Anglia Ruskin degree didn’t work out – all the classes were full – so he moved to Dudley to start a course at Computeach, the IT training provider, while working nights at McDonalds. Then, one night after work, he returned to his rented flat to find the locks had been changed. He had been evicted without notice. The landlord, he says, gave him no explanation. | |
| “That’s what rendered me homeless,” he says. “I had my laptops. I couldn’t carry all my luggage. That’s when I went to Birmingham and went to sleep in the park in Selly Oak.” | |
| He would eat from a dustbin behind McDonalds until staff realised what he was doing, installed CCTV cameras and then called the police who, he says, arrested him on the spot. For three years after that Kola slept on the first-floor of a multi-storey car park. He would be woken every night by other homeless men drinking, shouting, having sex on the level above. He was robbed twice by a group of rough sleepers. | |
| “There was five or six people – I could not beat five or six people. They beat me and removed by laptop, another took my phone, then they were gone”. | |
| Only in recent months, after he walked through the doors at the Birmingham-based charity Sifa Fireside, has Kola been able to find a hostel. He has no recourse to public funds – nor does he want to claim benefits – so most places won’t put a roof over his head. He has a job interview lined up in the next few weeks so soon he hopes he will be able to pay his way. | |
| Everything Kola has faced would be enough to finish most people off. But he remains positive. He doesn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs. He reads chess books and is almost surgically attached to his headphones. He’s not on benefits and is saddened by other rough sleepers who spend their handout on drink or drugs. | |
| “You can only go up or go down. David Cameron does not have three heads – he has one head just like me. It’s because of the decisions he took that got him where he is today. We determine our outcome by ourselves every second, of every hour, of every day. | |
| 7.22pm GMT | |
| 19:22 | |
| Steven Morris | |
| There has been a dramatic increase in the number of people sleeping rough in Bristol. Ninety seven were recorded in the latest street count – the highest number outside London. In 2013 and 2014 the figure was 41; between 2010 and 2012 it was just eight or nine. | |
| The actual figure will be more than 97 – sofa surfers are not included and the counting team does not go into unsafe buildings and squats. | |
| In addition there has been a doubling in the last three years of the number of households who present to the city council as homeless or at risk of being homeless. This totals around 5,000 now. | |
| The city council pays for between 300 and 400 “bed and breakfast” places (the correct term is “nightly purchased accommodation”) every day. It also purchases 1,100 units for people who are being helped out of homelessness and into longer-term accommodation. | |
| Why is there such a problem in Bristol? The bottom line is that the amount of permanent, affordable accommodation his shrinking. | |
| Firstly, the availability of social housing. Three or four years ago 3,000 homes became available every year – ie new ones were built or people moved out. That figure will fall to below 2,000 this year. New social housing is not being built and people already in social housing are staying put. | |
| And in the private sector rents have gone sky high. Mainly because Bristol is booming, more people with money are moving in and landlords are putting up rents. | |
| It used to be that the biggest reasons for homelessness were young people being kicked out of home or people fleeing domestic violence. Those still significant but are being outstripped by people losing private sector tenancies. | |
| Updated | |
| at 7.51pm GMT | |
| 7.14pm GMT | 7.14pm GMT |
| 19:14 | 19:14 |
| Caroline Bannock | Caroline Bannock |
| If you’ve experienced homelessness, or work with homeless people, we’d like to hear from you. You can share your stories with us by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button on this article. We’ll include as many as we can in the live blog. | If you’ve experienced homelessness, or work with homeless people, we’d like to hear from you. You can share your stories with us by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button on this article. We’ll include as many as we can in the live blog. |
| Otherwise, stay with us as we take a quick tour of the country and find out who our correspondents have been meeting. | Otherwise, stay with us as we take a quick tour of the country and find out who our correspondents have been meeting. |
| 7.07pm GMT | 7.07pm GMT |
| 19:07 | 19:07 |
| Mark Rice-Oxley | Mark Rice-Oxley |
| First things first: the numbers. Counting the homeless is not straightforward. There seem to be at least three different measures. Firstly, rough sleepers. This number is a snapshot of people sleeping on the streets on any given night. It was recorded at 3,569 in England in 2015 - double what it was in 2010. | First things first: the numbers. Counting the homeless is not straightforward. There seem to be at least three different measures. Firstly, rough sleepers. This number is a snapshot of people sleeping on the streets on any given night. It was recorded at 3,569 in England in 2015 - double what it was in 2010. |
| But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as the Guardian’s social policy editor Patrick Butler explained earlier this week. Beyond that, there are thousands more - 54,000 households at the last count - of people who have been granted assistance from local authorities to address their housing needs. Many (5,910) live in B&Bs while they await more permanent solutions. Others sit it out in mobile homes, lodgings, and other improvised solutions. | But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as the Guardian’s social policy editor Patrick Butler explained earlier this week. Beyond that, there are thousands more - 54,000 households at the last count - of people who have been granted assistance from local authorities to address their housing needs. Many (5,910) live in B&Bs while they await more permanent solutions. Others sit it out in mobile homes, lodgings, and other improvised solutions. |
| But of course not everyone is accepted under these “statutory homeless” arrangements. The Crisis charity reported that a total of 275,000 people needed help last year to address some aspect of housing insecurity. | But of course not everyone is accepted under these “statutory homeless” arrangements. The Crisis charity reported that a total of 275,000 people needed help last year to address some aspect of housing insecurity. |
| Perhaps the most striking figure of all is not about homelessness at all. At the latest count there are 610,000 empty properties in England. | Perhaps the most striking figure of all is not about homelessness at all. At the latest count there are 610,000 empty properties in England. |
| 7.04pm GMT | 7.04pm GMT |
| 19:04 | 19:04 |
| Introduction | Introduction |
| Mark Rice-Oxley | Mark Rice-Oxley |
| Good evening. Welcome to this rolling report about homelessness and rough sleeping. | Good evening. Welcome to this rolling report about homelessness and rough sleeping. |
| We thought scenes like these were on the way out, after the good years of the 1990s and 2000s, when homelessness felt like it was becoming a thing of the past. | We thought scenes like these were on the way out, after the good years of the 1990s and 2000s, when homelessness felt like it was becoming a thing of the past. |
| Not so. This outward visible sign of our inability to look after the most vulnerable in society is back and spreading. Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and of course London - nowhere it seems is immune. And not just the big metropolises either. Our inbox has been inundated in the last 24 hours by people from Swindon, Canterbury, Cambridge, Brighton, Bristol, Nottingham, Oxford... This graph might explain why: | Not so. This outward visible sign of our inability to look after the most vulnerable in society is back and spreading. Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and of course London - nowhere it seems is immune. And not just the big metropolises either. Our inbox has been inundated in the last 24 hours by people from Swindon, Canterbury, Cambridge, Brighton, Bristol, Nottingham, Oxford... This graph might explain why: |
| In short, it’s a bleak picture out there. So for the next six hours or so, we’ll be reporting from around the country on the homeless. Who are they? Do they all sleep rough? How many? Why? And, as ever, what is to be done? We’ll be hearing from people with no roof over their heads tonight, from others who rebuilt their lives after homelessness - and from the inspiring people who quietly work to help both. | In short, it’s a bleak picture out there. So for the next six hours or so, we’ll be reporting from around the country on the homeless. Who are they? Do they all sleep rough? How many? Why? And, as ever, what is to be done? We’ll be hearing from people with no roof over their heads tonight, from others who rebuilt their lives after homelessness - and from the inspiring people who quietly work to help both. |
| Do get in touch with our team, who are: Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) in Birmingham, Charlie Cuff (@CharlieBCuff) in Edinburgh, Steve Morris (@stevenmorris20) in Bristol, Jessica Elgot (@JessicaElgot) in Harrogate and Kate Lyons (@MsKateLyons) in London. I’m Mark Rice-Oxley (@markriceoxley69) at the controls. | Do get in touch with our team, who are: Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) in Birmingham, Charlie Cuff (@CharlieBCuff) in Edinburgh, Steve Morris (@stevenmorris20) in Bristol, Jessica Elgot (@JessicaElgot) in Harrogate and Kate Lyons (@MsKateLyons) in London. I’m Mark Rice-Oxley (@markriceoxley69) at the controls. |