Homeless report on bbc

[Down_Rover]

Just stated on BBC news there are 4500 homeless in Uk. Must be right because they counted them one night in November

In the same report they said the government has allocated £100m to address the problem

Easy.

Just give them twenty grand each

Or can someone not do their sums properly?

[Vino blanco]

I blame Brexit.

[TVC15]

Yep you !
Where’s the other £10m gone ?!!

[Steve1956]

I was in Manchester this week and returned to Edinburgh today the amount of homeless people I saw in doorways in these two prosperous city's was heartbreaking

[AndrewJB]

Lot of ex services people on the street, so I'd imagine some of that £100 Million will be going on mental health services too. According to some social media posts, we've spent all our money on looking after refugees instead. It isn't a this or that argument though. We should do both.

[tim_noone]

Lot of ex services people on the street, so I'd imagine some of that £100 Million will be going on mental health services too. According to some social media posts, we've spent all our money on looking after refugees instead. It isn't a this or that argument though. We should do both.

They're only Human...after all.

[tiger76]

There isn't a simple answer to homelessness,many have addictions,some have mental health issues,as Andrew mentioned some are ex-service personnel who are struggling to adjust to life in civvy street,money is important of course but the funding needs to get to the right agencies,and yes before all the Labour supporters jump in,the welfare cuts and unaffordable private rents are a major factor,but not the be all and end all to solving this problem,the same with social housing.

[tim_noone]

There isn't a simple answer to homelessness,many have addictions,some have mental health issues,as Andrew mentioned some are ex-service personnel who are struggling to adjust to life in civvy street,money is important of course but the funding needs to get to the right agencies,and yes before all the Labour supporters jump in,the welfare cuts and unaffordable private rents are a major factor,but not the be all and end all to solving this problem,the same with social housing.

Every town and city should have places of refuge.. If only for hot food on these bitterly cold nights.

[BigChaCha]

4500 homeless in Uk

and most of them located in Manchester City Centre by the looks of it.

[Fenwick]

There was also a report on the BBC new website about homeless people in Helsinki. 20 years ago there was a few thousand. Now there are none. The Finnish approach is to first sort them out with a home and the rest ( job, substance abuse support etc )flows from that. Seems to work.

[hampsteadclaret]

I saw the Homeless report on the BBC today more than once...some awful stuff going on in what is undoubtedly a wealthy country.

I am fortunate enough to live in one of the most affluent towns in the UK [don't mean Hampstead] and I have seen unprecedented numbers of people sleeping in shop doorways or on the streets generally, in the last 4/5 months - this includes young women on their own. It is a shocking sight to see to be honest. It is too cold to be out and people will die [have died].

Re the OP there is way way more to this problem, than the 4500 mentioned.

The utter failed shambles of 'Austerity' is largely, not totally, to blame for this crisis.

This shower in charge, barely a single talent on the front bench, have as much chance of dealing with this scandal as they have of dealing effectively with violent crime, overcrowded prisons, trains and transport, a barely functioning NHS, a variety of education issues, social care, gross inequality and much more.

- the one dreaded item they are trying to work on they have made a pig's ear of, with no end in sight.

The homelessness/housing disgrace fits in nicely with all their other multiplicity of failures..barely a redeeming feature or success to brag about.



** is there a solution? Part of any solution involves a substantial 5/10 year house-building programme, one that is carried out rather than just talked about.

[thatdberight]

and most of them located in Manchester City Centre by the looks of it.

You'd be surprised. Preston seems to have an extraordinary number for a "city" ( ) of its size.

[hampsteadclaret]

Now being discussed on Question Time [23.22]

[tiger76]

Every town and city should have places of refuge.. If only for hot food on these bitterly cold nights.

I thought most did but there is a stigma associated with some hostels,i know that here in Glasgow the local pastors take hot meals round for the street homeless,what is crazy is that a lot of these displaced people are trying to hold down jobs while living hand to mouth,in a wealthy 21st century western European nation that is unacceptable,i recall a documentary i viewed a few months ago which featured a guy in London who was working in one of the major hotel chains/restaurants on a full-time basis and paying income tax,once his shift finished he was reduced to finding a suitable doorway to spend the night,in addition to the obvious street homeless,there is a growing number of young people who are having to sofa surf or remain living with parents/other family members,these are what i would describe as the hidden homeless,yes they have roof over their head but in many instances there is no security.

[tim_noone]

I saw the Homeless report on the BBC today more than once...some awful stuff going on in what is undoubtedly a wealthy country.

I am fortunate enough to live in one of the most affluent towns in the UK [don't mean Hampstead] and I have seen unprecedented numbers of people sleeping in shop doorways or on the streets generally, in the last 4/5 months - this includes young women on their own. It is a shocking sight to see to be honest. It is too cold to be out and people will die [have died].

Re the OP there is way way more to this problem, than the 4500 mentioned.

The utter failed shambles of 'Austerity' is largely, not totally, to blame for this crisis.

This shower in charge, barely a single talent on the front bench, have as much chance of dealing with this scandal as they have of dealing effectively with violent crime, overcrowded prisons, trains and transport, a barely functioning NHS, a variety of education issues, social care, gross inequality and much more.

- the one dreaded item they are trying to work on they have made a pig's ear of, with no end in sight.

The homelessness/housing disgrace fits in nicely with all their other multiplicity of failures..barely a redeeming feature or success to brag about.



** is there a solution? Part of any solution involves a substantial 5/10 year housing programme, one that is carried out rather than just talked about.

to your last paragraph are you talking about building new homes? There's plenty of properties all over the county of lancashire that I'm aware of who's Buying these properties at the high prices they're going for? Are the prosperous southerners being priced out and relocating ?

[thatdberight]

...a guy in London who was working in one of the major hotel chains/restaurants on a full-time basis and paying income tax,once his shift finished he was reduced to finding a suitable doorway to spend the night...

If you're earning a minimum of £18-19k (minimum wage full time in London) that's roughly £1,350 per month after tax. A room down here if you go south or east can be got for £500 ish a month. Your transport costs max about £140 a month.

I'm not pretending you have a wonderful life on that or that money won't be tight but how does that end up being sleeping on the streets purely because of the financial elements? Are my numbers wrong?

[tim_noone]

If you're earning a minimum of £18-19k (minimum wage full time in London) that's roughly £1,350 per month after tax. A room down here if you go south or east can be got for £500 ish a month. Your transport costs max about £140 a month.

I'm not pretending you have a wonderful life on that or that money won't be tight but how does that end up being sleeping on the streets purely because of the financial elements? Are my numbers wrong?

He'll be saving up to buy a house up north and skipping the silly rents down there.

[hampsteadclaret]

15...Hello Tim..I am talking mainly about building new houses and flats and any other types of sensible new accommodation.
The public sector and private sector [including housing associations] should all be involved in this process. It is seriously important, and will cost a lot of money.

Legislation should be enacted to get empty/vacant properties into use all over the country. - not time for detail here but very small example - take those pubs opposite Burnley Central railway station [Reindeer? Adelphi? ] - derelict for years, who owns them, an absolute eyesore for people arriving in Burnley. Knock them down, clean the area up and build 20 flats there.

Many many southerners are not that prosperous, though those that own properties have done well in the last 35 years or so.
Some have been forced out, and generally head for Kent and Essex.

[tim_noone]

Adelphi still in situ.. Reindeer long gone. The old county court building empty for years on Bankhouse st is now refurbished and I'm sure is still empty after 40 plus years to my knowledge.

[Longside4evr]

This was done by Crystal Palace a few weeks ago for the homeless
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46920569" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tim_noone]

This was done by Crystal Palace a few weeks ago for the homeless
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46920569" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great stuff!

[hampsteadclaret]

Adelphi still in situ.. Reindeer long gone. The old county court building empty for years on Bankhouse st is now refurbished and I'm sure is still empty after 40 plus years to my knowledge.

I am not totally familiar Tim with the street geography of downtown Burnley, but the building you referred to.. Why was it not converted into flats ?

If it had been [as it would have been in Manchester or Leeds I believe] I guess it would have been occupied by now.


* to be fair to Burnley Council and others, I am aware of some rebuilding and regeneration taking place in town.

[SmudgetheClaret]

Huge lack of housing welfare support and many other factors are a big part of why this is happening but it's odd how very few particularly socialists or remainers accept that 350k extra people coming into the uk per year is contributing big time..

[tim_noone]

I can never be fair to Burnley council...for lots of reasons and mainly to do with Housing. But one case in particular was the deliberate running down of bleak house est. and selling the boarded up and derelict houses for pennies to a Building contractor leaving the older people who bought their own up sh!t creek without a paddle also as the area was an eyesore and their properties were worthless.

[Brucefanclaret]

I am a voluntary board member of Nightsafe, a charity that is based in Blackburn (yes, I know) and works with homeless young people between the ages of 16 and 25. We have a refuge, a day Centre, two project houses and various outreach properties. We help young people learn how to cook, look after themselves, find work or training opportunities. Some have mental health and/or substance abuse problems. Many have are from a family that has rejected them. In the years I’ve been involved, only one young person has been a refugee and he had suffered trauma you can only imagine. Austerity has certainly been a factor in increasing the need for our services. We work with young people in Blackburn and Pendle and with other agencies across Lancashire. There are plenty of organisations like us, trying to help, but we are all struggling at the moment.
Imagine being 16 years of age and street homeless in this weather.......

[TVC15]

Care home next to fire station on Belvedere road being sold by Lancashire County Council - they are going to auction at a guide price of £400k but will obviously sell to the highest bidder to get as much as they possibly can.
36 rooms and all facilities - shared kitchens, TV rooms etc.
Would be perfect to solve a big chunk of the homeless situation in Burnley - if not all of it.
I get that it would need running and maintenance costs - but where is the political will to do this. The empty buildings are there in every town and the local authorities own so many of them....but because of cut backs / austerity they have to raise money for services.
The Housing Associations are swimming with money and can’t spend it because they cannot find the land to build houses.
All it takes is a co-ordinated strategy and policy but rarely does this ever happen

[Inchy]

Although this problem will be hard to fix, it was pretty easy to create


Homelessness is up nearly 150 percent since the tories got in power. Now you can blame a multitude of reasons for that but a blind man on a galloping horse could tell you if you cut funding to homeless charities and cut funding to mental health services then it’s inevitable.

The Tory party simply don’t give a ****. If you are not earning money and paying taxes you are useless.

[Hipper]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47059450" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In Blackburn it says 15 'rough sleepers'.

However, if you look at the analysis about 3/4 way down you will see that these figures do not represent the true homeless figure, just those out on a particular night sleeping rough.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ys-shelter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And to compare with other countries:

https://ourworldindata.org/homelessness" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From the Guardian article we are 49 per 100,000 people (Portugal 20, Ireland 78, France 217 - perhaps including temporary immigrants so therefore so much higher).

[Buxtonclaret]

Another article from a while back now I remembered reading.
It covered much of many conversations I used to have with an old friend of mine, sadly no longer with us, in the late 80's/early 90s.
Homelessness is very topical just now. Quite rightly.
But it's something that's been in the making for a long time- and largely ignored - by politicians across the political spectrum.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... dApp_Gmail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Falcon]

Simple solution, and probably cost-effective in the long term

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46891392" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Scandinavians are so far ahead of us on so many social matters

[Stayingup]

Why is there so much of this these days I wonder. Never used to be. And many I see in Manchester are young, often able bodied people. Whatever its an a terrible situation. Personally I think Camerons vanity project of billions in foreign aid should be reviewed and some of that spent at home. I agree with foreign aid to some degree but what we are doing now is unsustainable and Charity to me begins at home. The big international money printing Davos Corprorations should contribute to ours and other world aid programmes.

[Pimlico_Claret]

Care home next to fire station on Belvedere road being sold by Lancashire County Council - they are going to auction at a guide price of £400k but will obviously sell to the highest bidder to get as much as they possibly can.
36 rooms and all facilities - shared kitchens, TV rooms etc.
Would be perfect to solve a big chunk of the homeless situation in Burnley - if not all of it.
I get that it would need running and maintenance costs - but where is the political will to do this. The empty buildings are there in every town and the local authorities own so many of them....but because of cut backs / austerity they have to raise money for services.
The Housing Associations are swimming with money and can’t spend it because they cannot find the land to build houses.
All it takes is a co-ordinated strategy and policy but rarely does this ever happen

You hit the nail on the head with "political will". There simply isn't any, it's not seen as a vote winner unfortunately, and let's face it, the last two and a half years have been politically dominated by Brexit issues, rightly or wrongly.
Rest assured, if the ruling classes/political elite could somehow make money for themselves by solving the homeless problem, it would happen overnight.