City in midst of homelessness crisis as 150 people sleep rough on the streets

Rough sleeping has reached record levels in Brighton and Hove.

It is believed up to 150 people are sleeping out in the city’s streets each night.

Charities working with homeless people in the city say the situation is the worst it has ever been.

Andy Winter, chief executive of Brighton Housing Trust, told The Argus: “Rough sleeping in Brighton and Hove is the worst I’ve ever seen it.”

Mr Winter estimates there are 100 to 130 people sleeping in doorways, car parks and tents and their cars, and others have said there are more.

Mr Winter added: “That’s up from around 40 people four or five years ago.

“These are people who could have been on the streets six months or two or three years.

“It is surprisingly easy to find yourself in that position.

“If you find yourself on the streets and you get to us or another service after just one night, then you can get back to a normal life much, much better.

“But people sleeping rough for three or four days can find it much harder. Their lives very quickly spiral out of control.

“That’s why we have our ‘no second night out’ policy to try to tackle that.

“The number of people sleeping rough on the streets is increasing, but services are working harder and better than ever before to help.

“But we are in extreme times and we need an extreme solution.”

The official rough sleeper count – held on one night in November – found there were 41 people on the streets. However, Brighton and Hove City Council’s homelessness team recognises that the “one night only figure” does not accurately reflect the real number of people sleeping rough.

The homelessness figure is then submitted to the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Councillor Bill Randall, chairman of the council’s housing committee, said: “I think this is the biggest single issue facing the city at the moment.

“We have a very long waiting list for council properties of about 20,000 names and that’s household, not individual names.

“I know that the official count last week said there were only a small handful of rough sleepers, but I’m much more inclined to believe the figures from the likes of Andy Winter and CRI.

“And the best projections are that it is more like 150 street homeless in the city.

“We are working on a programme to build about 200 council homes but at the same time we are having to sell another load under the right to buy scheme.

“In the last two years, we sold 107 council houses. This is, in my view, madness. We need to work on ways of finding more affordable housing in the city.

“We also have 5,000 family houses in Brighton which students live in. The two universities are worth about £1 billion to the city’s economy but their presence and expansion does put more pressure on housing. A typical one-bedroom flat in Brighton costs about £800 a month – roughly £200 a week – to rent. Housing benefit pays only £151 a week.

Coun Randall added: “My view is we need to build more at prices people can afford and that means government subsidies.

“Brighton and Hove is a hot spot for rough sleeping.

“People like to come here and a lot of the new housing built in the city ends up being sold to people from outside the area.

“And around 60% of people living on the streets come from outside Brighton and Hove.

“But many of those will come from parts of Sussex that do less to help homeless people.

“This is a critical storm and we need to find a solution – but it’s not easy.”

Coun Randall said the city was faced with a vicious circle because of council and voluntary sector successes in tackling the problem.

“We have to do what we can for people who have nowhere to live. What’s the alternative?” Coun Randall added.

But Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas is calling on the Government to accept an estimate figure for the number of homeless people in Brighton, rather than one based on a one-night homeless count. Figures from drugs and homelessness charity CRI reveal the number of young people under 25 sleeping rough has doubled in the past year.

There were 20 young rough sleepers in the first two quarters of the 2012/13 financial year, this increased to 24 in 2013/14, but this year has jumped to 49.

Ms Lucas said: “With the Government’s cruel bedroom tax, attacks on housing benefits and other so called welfare reforms, for many of my constituents the risk of homelessness is higher than ever before.

“It’s crucial to have a true picture of the extent of the problem, so that adequate resources can be allocated to help address it. In a city like Brighton and Hove, where we have such a long-standing and experienced team working with the street homeless, it makes no sense to base such an important figure on a one-night count. “On the night I joined the count, for example, a squat had opened up which meant that the number on the street was reduced. We need to trust the knowledge of the people working with the homeless community every day.”

Figures revealed by the charity Shelter and published in The Argus this week found that more than 700 homes in Brighton and Hove are at risk of being repossessed, with their residents facing eviction. Analysis of government figures shows one in 168 homes in the city are at risk.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, told The Argus that the charity desperately needed more help to ensure nobody else was left to fight homelessness on their own this Christmas.

Mr Robb said illnesses or other sudden changes can tip a family into a downward spiral towards losing their home.

He said: “Imagine the panic of receiving a notice through the door saying that you could lose your home. That’s the devastating reality for thousands of people every week.

“Our advisers will work non-stop this Christmas to support families who find themselves battling to keep their home but our services are overstretched and we’re struggling to meet the demand.”

Mr Winter saidsome rough sleepers are working in full-time jobs.

He said: “I know two guys living in tents holding down work.

“This sort of situation arises surprisingly easily.

“If you have a couple living in a rented property and they have a relationship breakdown and one moves out, they can suddenly find they can’t find a new place to rent because they haven’t got a reference.”

For more details and to help either of the charities, visit shelter.org.uk and bht.org.uk.

Authority team under pressure

COUNCILLORS on Brighton and Hove City Council’s housing committee have acknowledged the authority’s homelessness team is “under pressure”.

Councillor Mary Mears said the team carried out “tremendous work” but Councillor Emma Daniel said she was disappointed at the response to a scrutiny panel report in February that made 17 recommendations to tackle homelessness across the city.

Coun Daniel said the scrutiny panel’s recommendations were “vague” and did not set dates against tasks to be completed – including requests for a more diverse range of accommodation for the homeless and victims of domestic violence.

It was agreed a senior council officer would be appointed as “homelessness services integration champion” in an effort to meet the scrutiny panel’s recommendations.
The integration champion would be responsible for creating a schedule for when recommendations should be met and the progress made against them would be noted.