About homeless people?

[Catabogus]

Am I being unreasonable (or more likely, dim) not to understand why there are now so many more homeless people on the streets than there were 10 years ago?

I’m partly talking about London - I have started going semi-regularly in the early morning for work, and I am shocked to see very how many people there are now obviously sleeping on the streets. It’s far, far more than 10 years ago.

But I’m also talking about the much smaller city where I live. There are now people almost ‘camping’ in doorways: they’ve set up sleeping bags and boxes and cardboard and are obviously there night after night, in the cold and rain.

There have always been one or two well-known “tramps” in my city, and one younger man who was suspected of actually having a nice home to go to at night despite making money from begging in the day, but these are now young and old, men and women, far more than I’ve ever seen before, and they are clearly living year round, day and night, in all weathers, on the streets.

AIBU to be shocked? Are we going backwards as a society? Is it the benefits system that is failing and causing this? Or other things I’m missing? I feel really depressed about it.

Of course it’s austerity. And if the root cause of people’s problems start in childhood ( I think they say that your chances in life are essentially ‘mapped out’ by the time a child is 2) then that’s going to be much worse for a while yet. So many services for Under 2’s have been cut (sure start, get set) there is no help for families until they are in absolute crisis and severe enough for over stretched SS to step in.

I live in the countryside but every time I visit a city I’m horrified at how many more homeless people there are, and I’ve noticed many more women too.

@Passthecherrycoke is absolutely right. LOADS of the homeless people in Westminster are Eastern European. Huge groups of them in the parks and on the nearby streets.

^ this

You could argue that long term homelessness is mainly from lack of engagement with services.

OP I don’t know why you sound so surprised and confused. This has been going on for years and you would need to walk around with your eyes closed not to notice it.

I have noticed it, hence the post! It’s the specifics of the massive increase I am asking about. My perception is that there are vastly more young people, perhaps especially women, largely British, who are sleeping on the streets.

And I want to know why - and why no one is talking about it (apart from us here now). I don’t want just to shake my head and say “oh well, there have always been homeless people”.

Lots of the females have usually left care at 18 and don't have family ties.

Basically, if you are an adult male or female with no resident children or a disability, the council see no responsibility to house you. Some even have disabilities and mental health issues that aren't deemed 'serious' enough to give these people emergency housing. This is the biggest issue.

Other smaller issues are some are housed in hostels and B&B's but break the rules and get thrown out. This is mostly down to poor mental health provision/they don't have a permanent address to register with a GP etc.

It is really a sad state of affairs. When I was younger, I worked in a fast food place that was open until 3am. There was an elderly homeless man that used to come in and sit from 8pm to 3am to stay warm. He would sit in the corner and we'd chat to him, usually give him a few cups of tea and a free meal. He would then leave when we closed and sleep in a doorway. He used the local samaritans place to shower a few times a week and get his clothes washed so he was actually well turned out considering the way he was living. I asked why he was homeless and he said he was previously an alcoholic and his wife chucked him out 13 years prior. He stayed with a friend but then the friend chucked him out because he was drinking all the time. He got a place in a hostel then got chucked out for taking alcohol in. That was basically the extent of the help he was given and he said he blew it every time. He hadn't drank for 2 years at that point.

He came in one day with his hair cut and wearing a nice outfit and put £40 in our charity tin. I asked what was going on and he said his son tracked him down and he was living with his son and his wife and their 10 month old daughter. He was also in contact with his ex wife who had decided to give him the time of day since he was now sober. I think he came out the other side. He died 5 years a go (he was old) and the thing in the paper said loving husband, father, grandfather, nephew and friend or something along those lines with the names Margaret (I assume his wife), James (must be the son), Harriet (DIL I think), Bessie (probably grand daughter) and Albert (I assume an uncle he still had living).

Having worked with Glassdoor (a homelessness charity) I believe mental health issues are the main cause of homelessness.

But are there many more people with mental health issues now than 10 yeas ago?? Why?

If anyone is any doubt about the cause of increased homelessnes it is due to the torys.

The culmination of all the benefit cuts/benefit freeze/benefit cap/bedroom tax/2 child policy/universal credit/ Fit for work decisions when not (over 8,000 died within 6 months of being found fit for work)

When labour were in power, the numbers of homeless decreased. Only started rising again when the torys got back in.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2018/11/new-labour-all-eliminated-rough-sleeping-how-did-it-do-it

I read yesterday that there are over 13,000 ex service personnel homeless. An 82 year old ex army died a few hours after being evicted from a squat.

SHAMEFUL

You could argue that long term homelessness is mainly from lack of engagement with services.

When i used to do a soup kitchen in London alot of the people we met were not capable to engage with services

Also many of those services have been cut and much of it is met from the charitable sector

7 or 8 years ago there were two well known homeless people in our small, fairly rural town. There are now at least a dozen. The closes down Poundland at the bottom of the high street is more or less a permanent camp.

Last year on a Christmas shopping trip to Bristol, I saw a boy who couldn’t have been older than 15 or so sleeping rough. I found that very upsetting.

It’s so sad that this is what Tory Britain looks like in 2019.

political is simplifying the problem and also being a bit advantageous in having a dig at the party in power.

Yy to mental health problems being a root cause. But when political decisions have a role in making the lives of those with mental health problems inherently more difficult, make seeing a doctor harder, or make sustaning a home when your ill harder, i dont see its wrong in naming those political decisions and holding politicians to account

You could argue that long term homelessness is mainly from lack of engagement with services
Lots are normal men and women without MH issues are homeless.
Single men are not housed. A room to rent costs nearly a fortnight's wages before you eat dress or pay personal bill's.
If your landlord sells up, the new landlord is expecting 6 months rent deposit.
It is very easy to become homeless these days.

@Catabogus 're those that can't be housed. Where I work, there are a lot. We used to get an occasional "complex" case. These days, we get more complex cases than "normal" ones. People presenting as homeless with multiple issues. Mental health, prolific offenders, drug and alcohol issues, violent and aggressive behaviour, to name just a few. Many have been through multiple housing providers, and been evicted. There comes a point where where are no more options.

To make it political is simplifying the problem and also being a bit advantageous in having a dig at the party in power.

This is bullshit. Who funds mental health services? Who funds the police force to deal with drugs/organised crimes? Who funds the benefits system to ensure it’s fit for purpose and we don’t have families with no stable home? Who funds early intervention and support for families to help those that are disadvantaged to start not fall further into deprivation? ALL these things contribute to homelessness and ALL these decisions are taken by central government. How do you explain why homelessness has increased in line with these things being cut? How come some countries have far less people sleeping on the streets?

Last week DD had a non uniform day with stalls etc to raise money for a local homeless charity for 16-25 year olds. It is clearly an increasing problem for a school to be raising money for homeless youngsters

I've noticed this. There's less support out there to prevent homelessness and to get people back into a home.

Yes austerity hasn't helped but they inherited a mess from the last labour government. That's just not true. The ideology of austerity is the reason there are more rough sleepers. If you cut away the fabric of society and make life harder for people already struggling then this is the result.

Where I work, there are a lot. We used to get an occasional "complex" case. These days, we get more complex cases than "normal" ones.

Why is this? Is it because previously there were funded services which would have provided them with help at an earlier stage?

These days, we get more complex cases than "normal" ones. People presenting as homeless with multiple issues. Mental health, prolific offenders, drug and alcohol issues, violent and aggressive behaviour, to name just a few.
The services that would have helped with these issues have been cut.

Is it because previously there were funded services which would have provided them with help at an earlier stage? Yes. Austerity has removed what safety nets there were before.

One reason for the visible homeless on the street is that many hostels (most? I don't know) will not tolerate substance/alcohol abuse within their premises. It's a conflicting issue: they need support but what's the line between support and tolerating, nay, encouraging this? Would you, as a homeless person, want to lie down next to someone taking drugs?

I used to live in Archway (London). There was a man there who by 8am when I went to work had urine streaming down his legs and multiple cans of Special Brew by his side. It was an awful sight, but I doubt that giving this fellow a flat was going to turn his life around. For all I knew he already had a home, but all he wanted was money for drink.

I do think this has to be political. We need politicians with a commitment to solve this, and policies which can help. It will be a a big factor in how I vote (although I haven’t fully decided how to vote yet).

“I’m sure this is true - but has there been a huge RISE in drug-taking and hence homelessness? It’s the dramatic increase I’m puzzling over, not the root causes of homelessness.”

OP I don’t mean to Sound arsey- because I’m really not- but could you put numbers on your huge rise? Drug use goes hand in hand with homelessness but I don’t see how your question above can be answered if you can’t tell us the specifics in the huge rise?