Rough Sleeping – it’s not just about the data..
Statistics about homelessness are always approximate, fast moving and notoriously unreliable. In our City, St Mungo’s has recently been replaced by Change Grow Live as the City’s contracted homeless outreach partner.
This perhaps explains why we have never sought to occupy this role and move into a finance-dependent relationship with the Council.
The last year has certainly seen an improvement in temporary accommodation. However, this was achieved with £5 million Government Assistance (£2.2m 2020 and £3.3m 2021). With £20 a week additional Universal Credit allowance due to end shortly and eviction for non-payment of rent able to proceed again, the situation is poised to worsen.
The proposed date for when this support package will end is the 31st October. The Council are currently temporarily accommodating 300 rough sleepers with this funding and claim single figure rough sleepers. However, with nearly 700 rough sleepers on our books, the discrepancy is large and dependant on the time of day and the areas covered when the headcount takes place.
Unsurprisingly, the Council are making the most of the findings (based on this headcount) that Brighton & Hove has dropped from fourth worst affected city in the UK to outside the top ten. However, our experience is that rough sleepers haven’t disappeared, they have just become less visible. In any case the financial support cycle is running out.
There are strong underlying factors to explain why homelessness is liable to ‘bounce back’ more quickly in Brighton than elsewhere:
Housing shortage: Brighton & Hove is a popular place to live but because it's between a National Park and the sea, it's hard to build new houses.
There's also a lack of social housing. Because of this shortage, rents in the private sector are high.
Most jobs in the area are low paid and hospitality-related
The Council is perceived as more sympathetic than some others, drawing rough sleepers from nearby, outlying areas such as Crawley.
The figures do not reflect the growth of soft homeless (recent additions, mainly economic); or refugee/migrant intake (200 15-17 year olds were recently accommodated in hotels
in the City by the Home Office without Council knowledge or permission.
In other words, your intervention is needed more than ever. Please support us in supporting them.