The homeless problem.

N

No1_club

Member
Now this is not a political broadcast on behalf of anybody, so try to keep your politics out of it.
Watching the Manchester Boom on tv the other night, homelessness was a large part of the show. Its a complex situation with many issues of why people are homeless. I am often in Manchester and see 2 things, homelessness and begging.
I figure you cant just give everyone a flat for free, but I would like to see accommodation provided like the rooms on car ferries with a central canteen. Something to get people of the streets and give them an address, but not something you would call home.
Of course this would not stop the begging, but its a start.
Andy Burnham talks a lot about this, infact he talks a lot about anything, but it appears little is being done long term.
 
No1_club said:
Now this is not a political broadcast on behalf of anybody, so try to keep your politics out of it.
Watching the Manchester Boom on tv the other night, homelessness was a large part of the show. Its a complex situation with many issues of why people are homeless. I am often in Manchester and see 2 things, homelessness and begging.
I figure you cant just give everyone a flat for free, but I would like to see accommodation provided like the rooms on car ferries with a central canteen. Something to get people of the streets and give them an address, but not something you would call home.
Of course this would not stop the begging, but its a start.
Andy Burnham talks a lot about this, infact he talks a lot about anything, but it appears little is being done long term.
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Be quite a few more facing eviction shortly.
 
Lots of reasons people are homeless, as you say its a hugely complex issue, far more than just housing, or lack of affordable housing, the complexity of personalities, lifestyle choices, substance misuse, violence all play a part. There are safety nets for certain groups of people and local authorities provide accommodation for the qualifying groups.

Unfortunately there are a significant number of people who fail to qualify for help, like single people over 21 without children or a ‘vulnerability’ as laid down by legislation who for whatever reason find themselves without a roof. There are also a fair number who get evicted for any combination of things like non payment of rent or anti-social behaviour who may only get temporary help from an authority or in some cases non at all, as they are deemed intentionally homeless due to their failures to keep to reasonable tenancy conditions or behavioural expectations. Unfortunately, there are some people too that gain reputations for their lifestyle choices that make it difficult for a landlord (social or private) to want to take the risks in housing them that are associated with their lifestyle choices.

It is a problem that I can see only getting worse once the courts are allowed to approve evictions again. Homelessness is usually a consequence of a serious breakdown in their life, relationship, medically, financially, criminality or though substance misuse. It becomes a vicious circle as not everyone has the will or the capacity to change the causes of their issues. The agencies that try to assist are often swamped. Some get lucky and receive support some don’t and fall by the wayside. I agree more needs doing, but unfortunately their are also criminals and ner do wells out there who do not want some of these interventions to succeed too. I doubt the government money will be made available to ever make huge in roads into the issues, let alone solve it.
 
ticker_tape said:
Be quite a few more facing eviction shortly.
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I watched that too. I also watched ‘Britain’s forgotten men’ on BBC3 which had a focus on homeliness in Manchester. I understand that people may end up on the streets if they continue to make bad choices over a number of years. But it’s the speed in which it someone can go from a stable home to the streets nowadays. Young lad on the programme got into bother went to jail for a driving offence, spilt up with girlfriend and ended up on the streets in no time at all! Can be a brutal world for those who have one or two bad breaks in life.
 
If the homeless were homed at the height of lockdown, there is no reason why they can’t be homed all of the time.
Yes it’s a complex issue and there are countless reasons but putting a simple roof over someone’s head, feeding them and giving them the ability to be clean and safe should not be too hard a task in a developed country.
 
go-nads! said:
If the homeless were homed at the height of lockdown, there is no reason why they can’t be homed all of the time.
Yes it’s a complex issue and there are countless reasons but putting a simple roof over someone’s head, feeding them and giving them the ability to be clean and safe should not be too hard a task in a developed country.
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Crikey I wonder why no government of any political standing doesn’t just give a set of keys to every homeless person, job done !!!

It is not just about rooflessness, it is about ensuring people can sustain their accommodation too, thats the hard bit. Peoples lifestyles, behaviours, abilities are complex, some people In this world are nightmares unfortunately and wont or can’t be helped go to any sink estate and you will find examples, speak to any social housing company I am sure they will acknowledge the difficulties in helping certain individuals or families sustain their homes despite attempts at support.
What do you do with those that commit serial domestic violence or persistently cause their landlords or neighbours to suffer through various forms of ASB? Just keep moving them around rewarding their poor lifestyles and behaviours. Not everyone will work to reform their way of living. Like I say, housing is only a small part of the problem of homelessness.
 
I worked in the homelessness field for 20+ years in Manchester. Seeing Manctopia the other night was shocking especially the little church homeless 'shelter' in Salford crammed with beds with no privacy and not even any physical gender separation. Took me right back to the late 70s and 80s with the weakest and most vulnerable in night shelters in railway arches and disused schools and landlords creating unfit flophouses funded by landlord subsidy aka housing benefit. The main reason for the scale of the homelessness problem is the right to steal, what some people laughingly call the right to buy. Introduced in 1980 and resulted in millions of council houses sold off for a fraction of their value and councils not even allowed to keep all the limited proceeds even though they'd borrowed the money to buy the land and build those homes in the first place. It stopped the normal route to getting on the property ladder - people saving for a deposit and buying in the private sector - and stifled housebuilding. No longer much incentive for councils and housing associations to build social housing when the houses can be forcibly bought from them a few years down the line.
 
coluka said:
Crikey I wonder why no government of any political standing doesn’t just give a set of keys to every homeless person, job done !!!

It is not just about rooflessness, it is about ensuring people can sustain their accommodation too, thats the hard bit. Peoples lifestyles, behaviours, abilities are complex, some people In this world are nightmares unfortunately and wont or can’t be helped go to any sink estate and you will find examples, speak to any social housing company I am sure they will acknowledge the difficulties in helping certain individuals or families sustain their homes despite attempts at support.
What do you do with those that commit serial domestic violence or persistently cause their landlords or neighbours to suffer through various forms of ASB? Just keep moving them around rewarding their poor lifestyles and behaviours. Not everyone will work to reform their way of living. Like I say, housing is only a small part of the problem of homelessness.
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Why has homelessness increased massively under the current government?
I said it’s a complex issue, but when you reduce funding for mental health and substance abuse rehab it has a knock on effect. The vast majority of cases of homelessness are preventable - humans do not want to sleep on a pavement in the depths of winter.
Those that are a problem and difficult to home can still have access to safety and warmth. Even if it is essentially an open cell.
 
go-nads! said:
Why has homelessness increased massively under the current government?
I said it’s a complex issue, but when you reduce funding for mental health and substance abuse rehab it has a knock on effect. The vast majority of cases of homelessness are preventable - humans do not want to sleep on a pavement in the depths of winter.
Those that are a problem and difficult to home can still have access to safety and warmth. Even if it is essentially an open cell.
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I don't disagree with any of that.
 
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