Map of the Week: Homelessness crisis? What homelessness crisis?
When journalists are faced with a story that doesn't fit the accepted script, they tend to bin it - to pretend it hasn't happened.
That may be why recent government figures showing a big fall in homelessness received pretty much zero coverage.
We have been constantly told that it stands to reason: recession = more people homeless. So the alternative story was spiked.
It is, I admit, unexpected. I am at a housing conference in Harrogate today, and when I told delegates about the statistics, jaws dropped. They didn't know. It didn't compute.
• a 15% fall in people declaring themselves homeless to the local councils in England between January and March compared with the same period in 2008;
• a 26% fall in the number accepted as homeless;
• and the proportion of that dwindling number of cases which were down to people defaulting on their mortgage is also down - less than 3%, lower than at any time since 2007.
So where are the "middle-class homeless" we were warned about? Where are the thousands of rough sleepers the charities told us would be on the streets?
Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis, stood at a soup kitchen last December and said "our fear is that as the recession bites in the new year, we are going to see more people in the same situation as those relying on our Christmas centres today".
Shelter offered a similarly gloomy prediction - soaring numbers in temporary accommodation.
Well, the number in temporary housing was actually 17% lower at the end of March than it was a year earlier - more than a third down on where it was in 2004.
The much-trumpeted policy that the government was relying on to stop the most vulnerable families losing their homes and going through the trauma of repossession was the £285m Mortgage Rescue Scheme.
But the number of households in England which have accepted an offer through the scheme in its first four months is precisely two.
Yes, just two families have a roof over their head thanks to MRS, so ministers can hardly argue that that explains the fall in homelessness. (A similar scheme in Wales has been a little more successful, but would not affect the English homelessness stats.)
So there is a mystery.
Last year, repossessions hit a 12-year high at about 40,000. Now the Council of Mortgage Lenders is suggesting that this year may see 75,000. Perhaps the January-to-March data reflect the lull before the storm.
Even so, it seems odd that England has apparently escaped the kind of scenes being witnessed in America: tented villages of homeless people; motels requisitioned to house the destitute.
I recently attended a Cabinet Office briefing on the likely impact of the recession at which Tony Blair's former adviser Geoff Mulgan reminded the audience that homelessness actually went down in the last recession too. The private rented sector came to the rescue, he suggested. But he also offered a more sociological explanation: that British people are more tolerant and generous when times are hard. (See also the Young Foundation's The Receding Tide: Understanding unmet needs in a harsher economic climate, for which Mr Mulgan wrote the preface.)
Look at the main reason people gave for finding themselves without a roof over their head: 38% said it was because parents, relatives or friends were unable or unwilling to accommodate them.
It is far from ideal, but perhaps families are putting up with surplus children and grandchildren because they know how frightening it is to be homeless in a recession.
So I offer you a Map of the Week which tells the story of a dog which has not yet barked.
Homelessness acceptance rates are down in every region of England, with the biggest falls in the north west and the east Midlands, down 38% and 34% respectively.
The north east had the smallest decrease, down 9%.
The area with the highest proportion of its households which are homeless is London (0.9/1000), while the south east and south west of England have the lowest (0.3/1000).
Sometimes it is the stories which don't get written that tell the tale.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~17~RS~)
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I would think that a very large portion of those who lost homes were working or they would not have secured the loan. Now they may not have been able to afford the terms when the ballon payments or other "creative" financing of the bankers became real but that does not mean that they could not return to renting. I wonder how many of the over inflated homes now become in reach of the very same people now that the prices have declined. Homelessness statistics look like drug addiction statistics, there is a small percentage that are problemmatic and they rest cycle in and out. The media and programs tend to highlite the exceptions and not the rule. I don't mean to say that individual tradegies do not occur and that domestic violence and other factors place individuals and children is very difficult circumstances but the statistics relate small percentages of the overall population who have cronic issues of homelessness and other factors may contribute to their inability to obtain more permanent housing.
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It must always be good news that homelessness is decreasing but there are always underlying reasons and costs associated with this.
Looking at rents in the private sector it is difficult to see how anyone who can't afford to pay their mortgage can possibly afford to rent.
If they are jobless and can claim housing benefit or mortgage interest relief if they are homeowners then they can afford to remain in their homes in most cases.
The cost of this to the taxpayer must be huge and rising. The figures so far seem to be unavailable.
The exodus of many migrants can also be a factor as they return home and vacate more properties for other occupiers.
Because we have no proper statistics on this for we never knew how many were here in the first place this information is again unavailable.
The present figures which are relatively recent do not reflect the sad fact that unemployment is rising and will for some time to come and the numbers of those falling behind with rent or mortgages will continue once inflation takes off again and interest rates have to rise. Banks are already anticipating this and factoring in increases on fixed mortgage rates.
Whatever the statistics there are underlying problems and questions still to be answered. Like all statistics they are only as accurate as the information provided so I don't think we have much faith in them anyway.
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This appears to show the figures as the government would like you to see them. Actual figures are not down! I work in this field and can state with authority that in spite of the government spending on homelessness the number of homeless is not falling.It does depend on whether you are talking homeless or rough sleepers as there is a difference.
There are some who do not wish to be housed and many who cannot maintain the resposibility of running a home, but there are also many who would give anything to be 'normal' and have a roof and a job.
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"When journalists are faced with a story that doesn't fit the accepted script, they tend to bin it - to pretend it hasn't happened"
Leaving aside the issue of homelessness statistics, which are notoriously difficult to collate ('hidden homelessness' anyone?) and similarly open to manipulation, can we have that first quote carved into stone please? I'm glad that I haven't imagined the fact that anything the BBC consider 'off-message' (measured falls in global temperature, research by NO2ID or other opponents of the security state, well-documented obesity paradoxes and many, many more) being disregarded, or at the very best hidden away in the darkest recesses of an obscure webpage when anything supporting the accepted view gets front-page headlines and stays there for days.
Now that a respected BBC Editor has admitted what we all knew anyway, that there is a definite and deliberate news agenda perpetuated by lots of behind-the-scenes people who make sure that only those stories which further and support it ever see the light of day, will we ever see an attempt to let the public make up their OWN minds?
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i know back in the early 90's late 80's homeless persons in the london area were offered train tickets to the west country, pushing the problem out of the city it failed and the residents of the west country had to suffer the influx and even now there are problems.
we have suffered governments that to be honest have no idea what to do or how to resolve the problems.
apart from the mentaly ill living on the streets what the government should do is ask those homeless what they need and what support would be needed, rather than setting up comittees of never been homeless knowitalls who just rubber stamp the cheapest and quickest fix that fails due to inept planning.
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As a legal adviser for housing matters, the reason for this drop is plain and simple:
The council have implemented various ways of dealing with people who approach them as homeless that mean that are not counted in thier homelessness figures.
Examples include:
- finding people privately rented accommodation to put them in before an application has been made. This often means people are put into accommodation that in unaffordable to them.
- unlawful allocations policies that award more points to people who 'prevent' their homelessness by co-operating with the council than those that apply as homeless officially. This effectivley means people will agree to prevent their homelessness as making an application as homeless would detriment their chances on the council housing list.
- refusing to accept a homeless duty for reasons that do not make any difference until after the council should have accepted their initial duty towards the person applying. An example of this is telling the client they are either intentionally homeless or do not have a local connection with the area. These two issues should only be looked into once the person's priority need has been determined, and an initial duty has been accepted.
This is just three of the ways council are 'gatekeeping' to keep their homelessness figures down. Action must be taken to change this as it is often depriving help from some of the most vulnerable people.
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We all know how statistics can be manipulated. It's all about how the question is phrased or the words are used.
You only have to walk around the West End on any night of the week to see the amount of people there, begging on the street, from doorways, tube stations, stair-wells and subways, not to mention those that work the tube network or fast-food outlets, baby-in-arms, capturing the sympathy vote.
There are real homeless people who have found themselves in this position for whatever the reason, but who want to climb out of the hole they're in.
There are also those who are there, but who don't have any will or motivation to resolve the problem.
These two groups are those that most need our help. Society should be tasked with helping - they are people, after all.
Finally, there are those who 'choose' to be there, for whatever the reason. They once had a choice, likely still do, but decide not to take it.
How are the statistics released by our government created. If they are created by looking at some register, I suggest they are greatly under-estimated.
I myself came very close to being one of these statistics recently. The reasons why are wide and varied, but suffice to say, I am now back on track and paying my mortgage. I was close to repossession and am only just out of hot water, but the fact is, as #2 wrote, many in the repossession 'market' would likely be able to rent, short term at least. I believe that the situation regarding homelessness is much worse than the government would like to admit, hence these falsified or manipulated figures.
Those of us who fell foul of the recession this time around, and those who might find themselves sleeping rough, short or long term, might quite rightly blame Mr Brown and his entourage, and an admission that homelessness had worsened could be another nail is this current governments' coffin.
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I think you're all wrong and the governments perfectly right, everybody knows that families whose homes are reposessed just disappear
into ...thin air.
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The reason that it appears that homelessness is reducing is due to the way that government is forcing authorities to prevent homelessness. Whilst the law states that everyone has the right to make an application as homeless if they so desire all local authorities will make every effort possible to deter people from doing so. Some of this is by offering other housing options, some of this is down illegally by "gatekeeping". A true measure of homelessness would be those people who are accepted as homeless plus those who have been given "options". Of course many authorities are giving the same "priority" on their waiting lists for social housings and they do those who they have accepted a statutory duty to
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While any decrease in the number of homeless households is welcome, what is worrying is that Londons annual rough sleeping figures are going the other way.
Other new statistics show the number of people rough sleeping in London rose by 455 to 3,472 between April 2008 and March 2009.
Of these, 1,400 were people who were rough sleeping in previous years and around 2,000 people were new on the streets. That equates to almost 40 new rough sleepers a week, or five new rough sleepers a day.
As someone who works for a homelessness charity, St Mungo's, the concern is that rough sleeping figures are going to rise further, although the speed at which this happens remains to be seen.
What's crucial is that any new rough sleepers receive the right support quickly, as others have commented, or the risk is that they become longer-term street homeless and are not able to recover and rebuild their lives.
What's needed are more resources and action across government departments as well as Housing - notably Health, Work and Pensions and Business, Innovation and Skills. In a poll last year 70% of homeless people we work with told us that losing their job had contributed directly or indirectly to them becoming homeless.
And people who have slept rough may also have a range of hurdles to overcome, from physical and mental health problems to issues around drink and drugs.
The question is, are there enough safety nets to prevent people from facing street homelessness and the health and work problems linked with it - as the recession continues?
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All these lost homeless are living in all those MP's second and third homes!!!!!
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Just because people are not being accepted as homeless by local authorities does not mean they are not homeless. A couple of years ago, I escaped a violent relationship and moved to a womens refuge(which is classed as emergency accomodation) in a different area of the country. As a single parent, I had priority need and the local authority had a legal duty to help me. They initially refused to even let me apply as homeless, it was only when a solictor told them that they would be taken to a judicial review a the High Court that they relented. I was then rehoused via the council's rent deposit scheme which completely bypassed the homeless and social housing registers. This happened to most of the families I was in the refuge with. I wonder how many other local authorities have implemented these schemes. I would suggest that Mark Eastons figures are not an accurate depiction of homelessness. Comment number 6, I totally agree with you. If it wasn't for people like yourself, I would have been completely helpless during an already incredibly stressful time.
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As someone who's had recent experience of being made homeless and having helped someone else with their homelessness problem, I can say with authority that comments 6 and 9 are truthful, they know what it's all about, people are having to "jump through hoops" before they are included in the statistics.
Despite the fact that we both fulfilled all the legal criteria for urgent re-housing, "Gate-keeping" was used by my council in both cases. We were left to believe we were being processed as homeless and potentially homeless when in fact the council did no more than add our names to the housing register. After waiting a couple of weeks for a response from the council I went to them with written applications wishing to apply (as homeless under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002) before they would do anything.
At this stage I was discouraged by the council making legally unsound excuses for potentially refusing our applications, this was done by front of house "Options Team" persons who were their least qualified minions. They could be a convenient and dispensable scapegoat for the council if I took them to County Court and the Housing Ombudsman over their maladministration, I was obliged to use these threats because we were being "fobbed-off" each time.
The council took an extraordinary 56 days processing after I applied before they accepted their homelessness duty (33 days maximum is the target suggested by "The Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities - ODPM 2002"). As a result of this I wasn't awarded my correct housing points until it was too late and missed many opportunities of social housing where I would otherwise have been the successful applicant. Incidentally, almost all private sector lets around my area stipulate employed tenants only - just my bad luck being single-male, disabled and no dependent children.
Eventually I did get social housing (see commentator 6, "unlawful allocations policy", my own points were mysteriously bumped-up, if only to avoid them an embarrassing defeat and subsequent media exposure) but this was 4 months after I first approached my council with my eviction notice in my hand. During the final 6 weeks I was liable for a County Court repossession order followed by eviction by the bailiffs - all claimed against and paid for by myself.
My council took me to the edge of mental breakdown and thoughts of suicide, then offered me temporary and wholly unsuitable accommodation in a B&B in another county, possibly in the certain hope that I would mentally deteriorate and break the house rules whereby I would be evicted and be classified as "intentionally homeless" by the council who would then claim that they owed me no further homelessness duty.
The person I had been helping was treated in this manner, she was advised by the council to cut contact with me and my advice, she was put into a hostel unsuitable to her needs and this (eviction) is exactly what happened to her until I found out and sent her to the CAB who lodged a late appeal because the council unlawfully failed to tell her she had only 21 days to request a review of their decision or that she had the right to a review regarding the suitability of the housing which she was offered. I found more than 5 instances where the council failed to follow important ODPM guidance.
I hope this answers the rhetorical question "What homelessness crisis?"
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Re: Comment 13, yours appeared while I was writing mine. You are so right.
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Mark, you appear to be having a memory lapse again. Do you not remember all those crime statistics this venal, corrupt and incompetent government foisted on you as a press release? Well, these figures are the same. They are meant to show how wonderful Gordon and his Hoons are; not show us, the tax payer, what the true position is.
Another memory jog. How about the 2001 'Rough Sleepers Survey' designed as an exercise in showing what a good job Tony was doing. The survey showed a massive drop in the numbers of rough sleepers and the BBC happily relayed the message. Bless 'em. Except it then transpired that the survey only counted people who were asleep when counted and not those who were woken up by the researchers blundering through the squats ...
NuLieBore Stats. Doncha just love 'em?
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If you lost your home this doesnt always mean that you are homeless. I think that homelessness in the UK or London is down because Eastern EU many of them are gone home or to America. No more visa for Lithuanians, Hungry etc. And they are looking now for work in US. Second Border Agency work much harder trying cutch all Illegal people.
I think BBC should check charities like Manna Centre or Crisis just go there 9am and see, everyone that you find in this palces sleep over night in the night busses or in the parks.
Regards
Jason
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It may be that those who have their homes repossessed don't appear in the statistics because as former home-owners they have no hope of getting a council flat, so probably don't even bother registering on the waiting list. They must be either renting privately, squatting or staying with friends/relatives (and may in any case be too ashamed to admit their homeless state to someone doing a survey).
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As one or two other commentators have said, Mark has missed the point of how Government has manipulated the statistics on homelessness.
From around 2002, homelessness prevention became the preferred way of dealing with homelessness. This meant that LA's were encouraged to manage homelessness acceptances down by preventing homelessness, normally by placing people in the private rented sector.
I have no problem with this approach as the homelessness legislation has long been used by some applicants as a shortcut into affordable housing. This was not the original intention of the legislation. However, what the prevention agenda has enabled Government to do is to claim that homelessness itself has fallen, as has the number of homeless people living in temporary accommodation. This is, in reality, a bit of a fraud.
In fact, what has actually happened is that the number of statutory homelessness acceptances has declined, whilst the number of people facing homelessness and being helped by local authorities hasn't really changed. Furthermore, there are still similar numbers of people living in temporary accommodation, it's just that they haven't been accepted as homeless by local authorities prior to being placed there.
In my own local authority, for example, we have the lowest acceptances on record. But if you add the number of people to that figure where we have prevented homelessness ,the numbers are similar. We have also more than halved the numbers of homeless people living in temporary housing. However, those people are still there in similar numbers, it's just that they are not statutorily homeless.
Therefore, the reported figures on homelessness have become entirely meaningless in recent years, as has the information on the numbers of homeless people living in temporary housing.
There are some very good people working in homelessness for the civil service who have achieved some positive things and changed the approach that LA's have to dealing with homelessness. It's just a shame that there has been so much focus on using these new approaches to manipulate statistics so that Government can have a good news story.
Everyone working in the field knows that the press releases announcing further fall in homelessness or temporary accommodation are publicising a fiction, but very few people say anything. Apart from some comments about 'gatekeeping', Shelter have been almost completely silent on the subject, which baffles me.
As for the rough sleeper statistics, don't get me started on those...
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Well said Gregory. Here's an example of rough sleeper statistics which was given earlier this year in Parliament, fiction is not too strong a word to describe them.
Table C: Number of rough sleepers (persons), Hampshire and England, 2004 to 2008
Mid-year estimate, based on count, or zero if no problem is known or suspected
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Basingstoke and Deane 2 0 0 0 0
East Hampshire 0 0 0 0 0
Eastleigh 0 0 0 0 0
Fareham 0 0 0 0 0
Gosport 0 0 0 0 0
Hart 0 0 0 0 0
Havant 0 0 0 0 0
New Forest 0 0 0 0 0
Portsmouth 0 6 0 0 0
Rushmoor 0 0 0 0 0
Southampton 0 0 0 6 0
Test Valley 0 0 0 0 0
Winchester 1 0 0 0 0
England 508 459 502 498 483
The following short documentary tells another 'story' re. rough sleepers:
http://www.youtube.com/v/cgH4zV2UQeE&hl=en&fs=1
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In fact there is a mystery...
But on the other hand I see the difference and the reaction of the work done by you Mark, important publisher. The things do not go together very much that you say the reality of the things and not only on the statistics. Since it was already said what the statistics show it is a small sample of what it needs to be answered. Like the whole statistic they hardly are right because it obtains the prepared and supplied information.
Imagine you I see the things of another side, in the Brazil where the statistics escape still more due to the physical amplitude and quantities of people who do not enter in the statistics and who are taken care for entities to care them - not government, like Construindo Para Cristo, Criança Esperança, Rebuilding For Christ, and actions of great corporates in the work against the misery, chemical dependence ... Finally homeless that is helpless...
Jayme Mece
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In fact there is a mystery...
But on the other hand I see the difference and the reaction of the work done by you, Mark, important publisher. The things do not go together very much that you say the reality of the things and not only on the statistics. Since it was already said what the statistics show it is a small sample of what it needs to be answered. Like the whole statistic they hardly are right because it obtains the prepared and supplied information.
Imagine you I see the things of another side, in the Brazil where the statistics escape still more due to the physical amplitude and quantities of people who do not enter in the statistics and who are taken care for entities to care them - not government, like Construindo Para Cristo, Criança Esperança, Rebuilding For Christ, and actions of great corporates in the work against the misery, chemical dependence ... finally homeless that is helpless...
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In fact there is a mystery...
But on the other hand I see the difference and the reaction of the work done by you, Mark, important publisher. The things do not go together very much that you say the reality of the things and not only on the statistics. Since it was already said what the statistics show it is a small sample of what it needs to be answered. Like the whole statistic they hardly are right because it obtains the prepared and supplied information.
Imagine you I see the things of another side, in the Brazil where the statistics escape still more due to the physical amplitude and quantities of people who do not enter in the statistics and who are taken care for entities to care them - not government, like Construindo Para Cristo, Criança Esperança, Rebuilding For Christ, and actions of great corporates in the work against the misery, chemical dependence ... finally homeless that is helpless...
Good job Mike!
Jayme Mece
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"i know back in the early 90's late 80's homeless persons in the london area were offered train tickets to the west country"
The same thing is still happening today, People are getting sent to a small town in Cornwall.
I'm one of these people, And I originated from Newcastle been moved 20 times by the council, because all the placements were really unsuitable.
I'm genrally a quite lad, am 20, have been homeless for nearly 3 years, and been in care.
I am aware that people associate homeless as people who take drugs and drink Alcohol, In some cases this is very true, However it isnt what people with homes dont do. The reason that I know why this happens (from experience) usually alot of Youths get kicked out of home because their parents or family no longer accepts responsibility for them, then they get put into a hostel where Convicts or Ex-offenders get put into a hostel by priority as well as youths. I lived in one where someone who was about 30 years old had not long came out of prison for firearms handling was convincing me and 2 other 16 year old lads to sell cocain for him as well as pumping us full of steroids at the same time. I then became suicidal, So I talked to the Day staff which worked there and they said they would recommend not doing anything as it would cause more severe problems and to try and stay away from them. I tryed my hardest to stay away, but I bumped into them the same day as they was throwing stones and told me that I was suicidal. I then got moved accross the country a number of times till I eventually gave up with the council and decided to stay homeless, As it was less stressfull dealing with all the work of finding somewhere while dealing with my mental health problems and battling my alcohol addiction. I am now sorted finally but fears of becoming homeless again continues which is difficult to dismiss.
Anyway my points are these:
You should never put drug takers together or alcoholics
Most of these councils avoid duty and without legal aid they get away with it
The Aftercare System doesnt work
Since the Government has introduced a policy where if you are disabled or sick you are not entitled to a disability premium if you get benefits (which is the majority). This is a main reason why people dont declare themselfs as homeless. So they recieve more money.
People who have spent alot of time on the streets find it very difficult mentally
Homeless statistics are never going to drop anywhere near soon. I lived with 20 homeless rough sleeping in various squats and fields, I have seen so many people give up and start taking heroin, its distressing to think about it. Its easy enough to say You need to do this or you need to do that, But where are the people who's jobs are to find these people and give them a few pennys, something you would probabally expect yourself. I noticed the new advert about homeless dogs asking to donate money for them. Well then its fair to say people treat Animals alot better than humans.
If I won the lottery I would donate most of it to set up my own company to help homeless because the ones I've tryed are useless and obviously a waste of money.
Thanks
Ben
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Comment 14 is Bang On
about the council cause mental health problems that way.
I am a Geordie and the Council in Cumbria sent me to Sunderland which I tryed to turn down but got told I would be Intentionally Homeless, there I got beaten up, stolen from and verbal abuse. When I spent all my money to get back and tell them, they refused to help me and reimburse my travel. If I was in a higher position I would sue them 110%
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