How easy is it to tend up homeless?

[sundestroyer]

I have a friend who has lived in the US and UK. He says America has a better social support network than the UK. I'm not sure about that

The only homeless person I know is a guy in my 20s who I went to school with. He was an autistic lad who got kicked out at 19 and afaik, is still in one of the homeless shelters.

But I've heard that most people are a two or three paychecks away from homelessness.

I believe many homeless people in the USA live in there cars,
That’s just from the documentary about the Covid 19 in the USA.

@Sn0tnose

I think it's very hard to end up street sleeping homeless in the UK, to the point that I would say that it's almost a 'choice'

I think you’re very naive if you genuinely believe that that is the case. It’s incredibly easy to end up street homeless.

I think it's scarily easy to end up homeless in this country but there's plenty of homeless shelters and the like.

It only takes a few bad breaks to end up homeless. Long term street homeless is generally poor sods with additions to drink and drugs and usually mental health issues.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Housing work for 30 years here.

In this life you need social capital or financial capital. Friends and family, or money essentially.

If you have neither, it's very easy to become homeless. If you have one or the other, you're generally good. If you have both, you are almost entirely safe. People leaving care, people with brain injuries or disabilities, people with MH issues, tend to have less of both or tend to have to use that capital more quickly.

This is such a good post and so true.

I think you’re very naive if you genuinely believe that that is the case. It’s incredibly easy to end up street homeless.

I’d agree with that. I’ve been homeless (sofa surfing though not street homeless thankfully) 3 times.

It’s incredibly easy for it to happen and ludicrously hard to get out of it!

I support the prize for DUMBEST most ENTITLED comment I’ve read on here for quite some time! Seriously!

I was fortunate to have family/friends I could stay with and frankly the fact I had dd with me also meant I got more support than many others do to get new “permanent” housing.

It was due to a complex mix of mental illness, poverty and poor tenancy protection in this country.

I’m an army brat and am aware there’s a LOT of ex forces men end up on the street NOT by choice but because young, physically fit, childless men are bottom of the list of priorities as far as govt concerned! It’s shameful!

Even WITH dd getting the authorities to actually help is a real challenge and shelter have been incredibly helpful on that.

They estimate HALF of Uk WORKING renters are ONE pay cheque away from homelessness - and that was pre-covid and pre-Brexit actually happening!

I predict a HUGE and sudden rise in homelessness starting around June of next year when covid recession
and Brexit start to bite and people’s leases end.

We have a major crisis on the way that this govt is doing fuck all about!

Not everyone HAS a support network or has one that’s ABLE to help out - this is going to be the other issue next year EVERYONE in the working and lower middle class in the Uk is going to be struggling financially. Only the independently financed stand a chance of weathering it unscathed.

When I was doing my nurse training I befriended a man who sheltered in a nearby shop doorway. This was early 90’s and he was gay and he’d been kicked out by his family because they “didn’t want him bringing aids in the house” I tried to help and gave him food when I could but I was young and inexperienced and didn’t really have the knowledge to be able to help him much, I do wonder what happened to him.

The recent ruling that “no dss” on private renting is discriminatory is very welcome but is a mere step in the right direction.

There’s a VERY long way to go to ensure renters can access good quality, secure housing.

the thread about that decision is evidence of the huge prejudice against benefit tenants regardless of their (our) individual circumstances. totally agree some SHOCKING comments on that thread

Councils can, and do, put up all manner of obstacles against registering as in housing need again totally agree, inc lying through their teeth to deny their LEGAL obligation to house you. This is where shelter are so good as they can point you to the relevant legislation and even advocate for you

Why do the men have to leave and not the women? because the children are the priority and as the primary carer usually the mother remains with the children. And I’m afraid while possibly not a popular opinion, I think chances are a fair number of these will be men who were removed from the family home because they were abusive.

@MrsTerryPratchett exactly! I have mental illness and that puts a lot of people off wanting me in their homes, even though I’m of no danger to them or myself. Still a lot of misunderstanding and stigma there.

@HooNoes what’s also shocking is that there are a lot of people in nmw jobs now that are still homeless. Wages are FAR too low for the cost of living

@20mum re domestic violence bill I’d love to know more about what you mean either here or by pm

but there's plenty of homeless shelters and the like. ffs that’s almost as dumb as the prize winning comment!! There's nowhere NEAR enough provision even of these basic facilities!

During beast from the east my local authorities damn near totally panicked as they realised the plummeting temperatures combined with street homelessness being high here meant they were likely facing literally piles of bodies in the streets!

I love how everyone praises the posters who work in the services (who could do nothing for me) rather than the posters who have actually lived on the streets.

I'm sceptical about the impact of the new ruling against DSS discrimination - I've been looking online this week for a friend and the amount of new 'no housing benefit' ads is still the same (ie the majority).

I was surprised by the govt response to getting rough sleepers shelter during lockdown- I know that it wasn't appropriate for everyone sleeping rough, but it was more than has ever really been done before. I worry about what happens long term - although there's recently been a lot more funding allocated :

www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/105m-uk-fund-stop-homeless-18617004

@HooNoes

I love how everyone praises the posters who work in the services (who could do nothing for me) rather than the posters who have actually lived on the streets.

A lot of workers are extremely frustrated there isn't more and also don't want praise.

I'd LOVE more housing; affordable, safe and happy, better than any amount of telling me I do a great job. I do a frustrating job because I have to turn people down.

Even more frustrating because I lived and worked through the late 90s- early 2000s when we were actually reducing homelessness and seeing proper improvement. Long gone now.

I have managed a homeless hostel and believe me it is much easier than you can imagine. Some of the stories from the people there were heartbreaking.

I think it would be pretty easy for me. I gave some big mental health issues.

@HooNoes

We have Donald Trump on the thread. Who would have thought it?

I'm doing a great job. Nobody else has done a great a job. The Greatest job that Britain has ever seen.

My fucking arse.

I'm out

First, I'm exempting most of the people here, who, unusually, know what the word 'homelessness' means. But, almost everyone who gets hold of funding rushes to spend it on street homeless, who are the tiny minority and not at all typical.

The majority, the hidden homeless, include the most vulnerable of all. Women, disabled, elderly. Not able to survive in the open. Not able to survive in a hostel where violence rules. Not able to withstand any domestic abuse within the place they are (often unofficially) sheltering. They are effectively excluded from police protection because the domestic violence definition is limited to a few 'permitted abuser categories'. (These comprise, essentially, a small range of blood relatives, or a person who at some time had a willing sexual relationship.)

Ironically, being violently raped by the resident landlord or a fellow flat sharer is abuse which must be lived with, not reported, if the victim cannot run away and live in a shop doorway, and does not count as existing at all under domestic abuse definition. Domestic violence to others in the same residence was once ruled as domestic violence, by a judge. But the domestic violence agencies have closed ranks against the excluded hidden homeless. They are currently putting a new domestic violence bill through parliament, using the definition of the close relative or current or ex partner, and turning their backs on all the hidden homeless victims.

A flat sharer or similar has no protection at all, inside the only place they can call home, from an abuser who can enter with his own key. The House of Lords is currently reviewing the law. They need someone to ask them to include non personal relationship home sharers.