One thing thats always been difficult to see for me is homelessness. Especially in this day and age. Understand that there are any number of reasons why people end up on that situation. Some through their own fault. Many not. People from all different backgrounds. A lot of ex military too.

The issue lately seems increasingly prevelant. Manchester and for some reason edinburgh seem to be the worse. In birmingham this evening though and its as bad if not worse than them two. Every other street corner around new street is rife.

Its got to the point now where its putting me off going into cities. Not in a selfish way. Or because I am worried about what they may do but because I am sick of seeing it. And I am sure they are sick of living that way (in the main).

It must be at epidemic levels. As I type this walking from New Street to Moor Street ive passed over ten people sleeping rough. About the same smoking spice. And people selling stuff. Not all are drug users or pushers. And as someone who is against drugs I actually empathise with why they take them in their situation.

But whats the solution? What can the government do? What can we do?

Homelessness affects us all. Obviously in different ways some of us have homeless friends or family. Some of us may have been homless. But if neither of them we almost all see someone homeless every day.

Tough situation for all involved. Not sure what the answer is but it does seem more common than ever and increasingly so.

We cant do anything. The benefit system as changed....capped payments for your rent means a probable shortfall to the landlord resulting in eviction. You get a job your lucky? Maybe not...zero contracts can guarantee a big fat zero wage.how do you pay the rent in that ludicrous situation,you cant so your on the streets.its a downward spiral imo.

Funnily enough im switching channels...how to get a council house is on 4 it doesnt look good viewing...ill view see if i can learn something

A massive problem. Walking through Manchester it is unbelievable the amount of homeless people.

I'm working in Glasgow at present. Very visible problem there too. Street homelessness in the UK seemed to be becoming a thing of the past but it's back with a vengeance.

Yes Manchester is very bad. Glasgow too. Edinburgh surprised me everytime i went up it was worse.

Genuinely shocked by Birmingham today. Think its worse than the others.

Bristol another. Big subway area where many exist. I cant say live as its not living that.

I feel like the more we do though the more its encouraged.

Is the private landlord numbers a factor?

The channel 4 programme how to get a council house,what im watching at present is shocking.six letting agents council bosses clerks ect. Telling people go to birmingham ..from london otherwise your making yourself homeless. Young english couples being told your sh!t property is good enough.all those running the show are for some strange reason not cacausian. As i may add some of the poor people beng kicked on the streets arent either. Not a sympathetic mr smith to be seen.

Nope. Here in birmingham seen people from all backgrounds on the street although predominantly white but some asian and afro carribean.

I think its more common with white, british though because Asian culture, african culture and even eastern europe is about living together as a family unit and all pooling resources. We on the other hand (a generalisation admittedly) are more focussed on living on our own and looking after ourselves.

Too many people on this small island and not enough houses.

Factor in multiple property owning landlords and 100's of thousands of Poles, Slovakians, Hungarians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Romanians who come here to work and need housing, and you have a shortage of houses.

No one should be homeless in this country.

But the majority of them live together in multi occupancy. Sometimes a few to a room. They are happy to live that way. And who can blame them?

Also no issue with these people coming here. The vast majority are hard working people contributing to our society. And many do jobs our citizens wouldnt get out of bed for

So while immigration needs looking at i dont think its a direct factor in the mass homelessness.

More people contributing to society and the economy means more jobs surely?

I haven't said anything about people coming here as a negative, other than it puts a strain on housing.

They earn their money and pay their way, but they still need housing.

Thats what I am saying. I dont think its a direct reason for the homelesness here.

Bin Ont Turf wrote:Too many people on this small island and not enough houses.

Factor in multiple property owning landlords and 100's of thousands of Poles, Slovakians, Hungarians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Romanians who come here to work and need housing, and you have a shortage of houses.

No one should be homeless in this country.

Bang on with most of that....going back to my younger years and being from burnley....i was fourtunate to have a house ,it was called a slum! I had two young kids at the time.and yes i had a job as did my then wife,a house with no bathroom an outside long drop resident mice,the odd rat.the compulsory damp and mould. And who did the council give the new council properties to lower tentre,hgher tentre the flats, the better type council properties. The economic migrants from wales and scotland. Given the best of the best. We eventually got a council property after going to the newspapers with our predicament after a couple of years....bleak house! 1976 i left the town not a year later. Marriage done brain scrambled,i may add ive done well for myself away from burnley.... but the councils back then treated their own like sh!te trying to look good helping the outsider...only now the outsiders taken over and the home grown are still being treated like sh!te.mr smiths done one.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Thats what I am saying. I dont think its a direct reason for the homelesness here.

It is........

Certainly HMO's are cutting down on the true numbers of homeless immigrants, but the main factor (to my mind) is the lack of accountability/duty of care to society's vulnerable people. Mentally ill, ill-educated, unemployed - they are the ones that can be cast aside and they absolutely have been.

Thankfully mental health awareness is now coming to the front of the news. Manchester is a disgrace - and they flat out denied they had a problem. Now they cant.

Just nipped to the shop 2 mins walk from my hotel on new street. Got stopped twice again. Three times actually twice vy the same man outside my hotel. And a poor (clearly mentally unwell) man screaming at everyone in sight offering to kill them all.

I knew that our cities had an issue but cant believe how bad birmingham is. Ive seen more stability and less homelessness in Africa!

tim_noone wrote:Bang on with most of that....going back to my younger years and being from burnley....i was fourtunate to have a house ,it was called a slum! I had two young kids at the time.and yes i had a job as did my then wife,a house with no bathroom an outside long drop resident mice,the odd rat.the compulsory damp and mould. And who did the council give the new council properties to lower tentre,hgher tentre the flats, the better type council properties. The economic migrants from wales and scotland. Given the best of the best. We eventually got a council property after going to the newspapers with our predicament after a couple of years....bleak house! 1976 i left the town not a year later. Marriage done brain scrambled,i may add ive done well for myself away from burnley.... but the councils back then treated their own like sh!te trying to look good helping the outsider...only now the outsiders taken over and the home grown are still being treated like sh!te.mr smiths done one.

tim_noone wrote:It is........

I think the private landlord culture is a bigger factor.

cloughyclaret wrote:Certainly HMO's are cutting down on the true numbers of homeless immigrants, but the main factor (to my mind) is the lack of accountability/duty of care to society's vulnerable people. Mentally ill, ill-educated, unemployed - they are the ones that can be cast aside and they absolutely have been.

Thankfully mental health awareness is now coming to the front of the news. Manchester is a disgrace - and they flat out denied they had a problem. Now they cant.

Its not a mental health problem ill education or unemployment problem. If you watched the council house programme on 4 tonight there was no ill health or education problems....just a determined effort to kick everyone out of london. Then the mental health problems start your told to go hundreds of miles away and isolate your self.its a determined effort by those that wield the power.who do you think is on the streets in manchester....glasgow...birmingham? Relocated residents from elsewhere. The mental health and drug issues then take over.

One of the issues in terms of EU migrants is that they aren't automatically entitled to benefits and if they are homeless can be deported (regardless of what a large number of people believe). As such, there is a risk in going to councils, etc and saying you're homeless as you may be deported which means people stay homeless rather than seek help. This has been happening in London that I know of.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Just nipped to the shop 2 mins walk from my hotel on new street. Got stopped twice again. Three times actually twice vy the same man outside my hotel. And a poor (clearly mentally unwell) man screaming at everyone in sight offering to kill them all.

I knew that our cities had an issue but cant believe how bad birmingham is. Ive seen more stability and less homelessness in Africa!

Because theyve been kicked out of london. They are isolated. Theyre not kicking people out of glasgow or bristol or manchester or burnley theyre being welcomed . But unlike 40years ago theres no work!

Weve talked before about the issues of gentrification in london. Agree thats a huge issue.

We are the lucky ones. I say lucky. Everyone should have a roof over their heads in this country in this day and age so maybe lucky isnt the word. But we are generally all in a good place. If you have health, family and food you dont need any more. Just want more.

I'll give you a for instance... Your working in London as a poorly paid worker your happy in your life family and friends nearby,your struggling to get housed ...but hey ho your gunna be lucky...your going to get a roof over your head .....in Wolverhampton .... In Birmingham where you are tonight . Having a roof over your head in some cases doesn't make you lucky.

tim_noone wrote:Its not a mental health problem ill education or unemployment problem. If you watched the council house programme on 4 tonight there was no ill health or education problems....just a determined effort to kick everyone out of london. Then the mental health problems start your told to go hundreds of miles away and isolate your self.its a determined effort by those that wield the power.who do you think is on the streets in manchester....glasgow...birmingham? Relocated residents from elsewhere. The mental health and drug issues then take over.

So this countrywide homeless issue is just down to kicking everyone out of London to relocate elsewhere? Are all the homeless in London or from London?

cloughyclaret wrote:So this countrywide homeless issue is just down to kicking everyone out of London to relocate elsewhere? Are all the homeless in London or from London?

I think the point tim is making about london is more related to the resettling of people who have lived and been brought up in areas particularly in london that are being gentrified.

Places like brixton, islington, stratford. Where social housing is being replaced with multi million pound apartments. So these people have no option but to relocate to the midlands and beyond. If you havent seen i daniel blake its worth a watch as it paints this picture perfectly. Brutally harsh. But a fair reflection. A girl from london relocated to newcastle.

I would guess the people on the streets of London are a mixture of migrants... And locals mainly male managing to earn a few quid here and there but unable to pay private rent or squat.cos that's now an offence.the ones that entrusted the council to rehouse them are probably living two hundred miles away in Manchester in isolation ..big factor in mental health. The rest are on the streets drug taking.

I have seen I, Daniel Blake. It does resonate with me (ok made me cry) as my sister works on appeals. Sometimes she is heartbroken on what she has to veto.

Maybe I read Tim's posts incorrectly, they are very hard to read to be fair. There are a mix of migrants in every large town/city and gentrification in these too. Tim? surely you cant deny there is a mental ill health issue linked to this. Drug taking is mainly a symptom and not a cause.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Nope. Here in birmingham seen people from all backgrounds on the street although predominantly white but some asian and afro carribean.

I think its more common with white, british though because Asian culture, african culture and even eastern europe is about living together as a family unit and all pooling resources. We on the other hand (a generalisation admittedly) are more focussed on living on our own and looking after ourselves.

Or maybe because Asian, African and eastern European people are more accustomed to cutting their cloth accordingly as opposed to being supported by the state

Damo wrote:Or maybe because Asian, African and eastern European people are more accustomed to cutting their cloth accordingly as opposed to being supported by the state

I agree with that too. They tend to live within their means better and live as a family unit / community better.

I'm going to relocate to Bournemouth for a few days......

cricketfieldclarets wrote:One thing thats always been difficult to see for me is homelessness. Especially in this day and age. Understand that there are any number of reasons why people end up on that situation. Some through their own fault. Many not. People from all different backgrounds. A lot of ex military too.

The issue lately seems increasingly prevelant. Manchester and for some reason edinburgh seem to be the worse. In birmingham this evening though and its as bad if not worse than them two. Every other street corner around new street is rife.

Its got to the point now where its putting me off going into cities. Not in a selfish way. Or because I am worried about what they may do but because I am sick of seeing it. And I am sure they are sick of living that way (in the main).

It must be at epidemic levels. As I type this walking from New Street to Moor Street ive passed over ten people sleeping rough. About the same smoking spice. And people selling stuff. Not all are drug users or pushers. And as someone who is against drugs I actually empathise with why they take them in their situation.

But whats the solution? What can the government do? What can we do?

Homelessness affects us all. Obviously in different ways some of us have homeless friends or family. Some of us may have been homless. But if neither of them we almost all see someone homeless every day.

Tough situation for all involved. Not sure what the answer is but it does seem more common than ever and increasingly so.

I live in Portugal. The locals are under the illusion we are all affluent. They wouldn't believe the scenario you have accurately and articulately outlined.

The streets of london are not paved with gold.

If there were a thousand empty houses in Brum I'm sure there would be people living on the streets.
Education is the answer, especially from parents, and a community spirit that supports each other.
As each new generation comes along, as a society we take another step backwards.
Reversing the trend will be like turning an ocean liner, difficult but not impossible, but only if there is the will from the people.

Walking around Manchester Market St and vicinity shows the full extent of homelessness. I have faith that Andy Burnham will address but it will take time. This is Britain 21st Century. How do we influence it...well there's a General Election on 8th June for starters.

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During wartime we conscript people to serve and fight. We should be able to conscript empty dwellings to be temporary council houses.

We have a huge homeless problem in Milton Keynes as well.
Seems more prominent than ever now but at least here, the council have provided the majority with tents so they can sleep in the relatively warm, well-lit underpasses.
Nothing but sympathy for all of them, but it doesn't exactly look good.

A lot of the homeless are unemployable through mental illness among other reasons. I know this through first hand experience and it's a lot more complicated than just giving them a home and a job. Most would only last a few months before wanting to go back to the streets. There is no easy answer unless we threw millions if not billions at it.

It's a great shame that it now seems to be a big problem not just in the big cities like Manchester and London but also in more traditional towns/cities. I went to York last year and was stunned at the amount of homeless. In fact I was stunned how York has gone so down hill. I used to love the place but it's starting to look like any other inner city with a smattering of history!

This is something I just do not understand. It must make these poor souls sick if they happen to catch sight of a newspaper to read ''Player X signs for Y in deal worth £Z million on multiple hundreds of thousands a week.''

I agree (if it has been said) that we cant just give people money, better to provide opportunity to better their prospects through work or incentives.

The modern society is all about ''I'' and f**k everyone else. Look what I've got, look at my flash whip, look where I am on holiday, look at how great my life is. I'm sure every generation has said this about the next, but it just seems there is no decency, good manners or good will anymore. And these attitudes that only make the problems in this country worse.

Gypsy travellers get treated completely differently to the homeless by the government. The homeless have just been completely abandoned!

There's a couple in Didcot who sleep in the same shop doorway everynight.

They managed to get a place to live once, but messed it up and ended up back in the shop doorway.
I think they actually prefer it, but I might be wrong.

It's a bit like spending a long time in prison, eventually you get so used to living a certain way you can't adjust to something else.

the massive rise in rough sleepers here in manchester is directly attributable to the huge cuts to the council funding by the tories - unsurprisingly, labour councils have been hardest hit placing massive pressure on services that help vulnerable people, including the homeless.

added to benefit sanctions and people losing jobs and getting into rent arrears, its no surprise there's been an increase; indeed many predicted it.

the numbers you see on the streets are only the tip of the iceberg as well, there's far more too it than just rough sleepers.

when you live and work here you see the same homeless people in the same places every day but what is very noticeable is how many of them are older people. again, although there are other factors, it largely comes down to an underfunded social care system that simply can't cope.

I thought Burnley's very own Wesley Hall was going to sort it all out?

Wes Hall's the biggest Muppet going

There's six homeless sleepers in Reading .For a rich authority to allow this to exist is appalling

I know of 4 people from Blackpool who travel to London to beg although they have nice houses and cars. There was a documentary on one of them and how he made £600 A day.

There needs to be a task force set up to find shelter for these people. It can be done with the help of those more fòrtunate. Similar to Neville and Giggs allowing the homeless to stay in that residence for 4 months before building work started. These people could be used as a resource. Many jobs require doing which councils can't afford and don't have manpower for. Training would help them improve their chances for further work. Also through working with councils would be in the system helping them make the next step. Also if the council housed them they would have an address which is often an issue with the unfortunate cycle they often get caught up in. In Blackpool it is shocking the amount of buildings which the council owns which are empty, with money often used which has been borrowed off central government at reduced rates.

ClaretEngineer wrote:The modern society is all about ''I'' and f**k everyone else. Look what I've got, look at my flash whip, look where I am on holiday, look at how great my life is. I'm sure every generation has said this about the next, but it just seems there is no decency, good manners or good will anymore. And these attitudes that only make the problems in this country worse.

This hasn't happened overnight. It could be argued that the roots of it began in the 60's, that wonderful, so called, golden age. It kicked in big time during the 90's when dumbing down and having a drunken attitude problem rather than a personality became the norm during the UK's mass celebration of ignorance. At the time people described it as 'just a bit of fun' until 20 years passes by and it becomes par for the course to the next generation who start having kids.

I should imagine the blame will be put squarely on the poor by our caring sharing media. It's a mess and looking at todays politicians and agendas it's one that I can't see improving anytime soon.

Homelessness in our cities-

Uncontrolled mass immigration means a city the size of Newcastle has been flooding in for years. It's simply chickens coming home to roost. So the message from the ivory towered political class is -

"Budge up everyone the migrants are coming"

It's so easy to slip. Millions of people in the UK are only a couple of pay cheques away from the slippery slope. A couple of months without the regular wage going into the bank, through illness or redundancy, and many end up having to rob Peter in order to pay Paul. Soon enough it's a balancing act between the rent/mortgage, or the utility bills and food.

Also, most zero-hour contracts are a form of modern day wage slavery where people live in poverty while being at the beck and call of their employers - the same employers who take zero responsibility for their employees, but grow rich on exploitation.

Blimey, that sounds like a Marxist rant. Unfortunately, it's reality for many in the UK.

I worked for a major national homeless charity for 12 years (one with a famous song) part of the reason you see more street sleeping is that it became impossible for the charities to continue with the hostels due to massive government cutbacks

Walking on the canal in Burnley one morning I came across three separate blokes who looked like they'd slept under the bridges from Finsley Gate to Barden Mill area,very sad to see.
This country is a shithole now in my opinion and how it treats it's own kind,it's all about the economy and feck the rest!