Section: Homelessness & Rough Sleeping

Housing First project launches in Stafford

Posted 28.07.17
Midland Heart: Article link

An innovative project that places homeless people into permanent accommodation and then provides a programme of support to help them to get their life back on track is about to launch in Stafford.

Commissioned by Stafford Borough Council, the Housing First project, worth �42,000, will be delivered by Midland Heart over the next two years.

The project will support up to eight people at any one time into permanent accommodation, where underlying issues contributing to their homelessness can then addressed.

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New study reveals that over 6,000 rural households became homeless last year

Posted 11.07.17
IPPR: Article link

A new report by IPPR, the policy think tank, exposes the injustice of often hidden homelessness in rural areas. The new report - Right to home? Rethinking homelessness in rural communities - finds:

In 2015/16, 6,270 households were accepted as homeless in England's 91 mainly and largely rural local authorities, with one-fifth of all homeless cases occurring outside of England's most urban areas.
Between 2010 to 2016, predominantly rural local authorities recorded a 42% increase in rough sleeping
Many cases of homelessness in rural areas go undetected, with people more likely to bed down in alternative countryside locations like outhouses, barns, tents and parked cars
The causes of homelessness are often similar across urban and rural areas and most frequently relate to family breakdown or the ending of an assured shorthold tenancy

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New figures show halt in increase of rough sleepers in London

Posted 03.07.17
Mayor of London: Article link

New figures released by the Mayor of London show the rise of the number of rough sleepers on the streets of the capital has effectively halted for first time since 2009.

Statistics show the number of people seen sleeping rough on the streets of London in 2016/2017 was 8,108 - virtually unchanged from 8,096 the previous year.

This contrasts with a rise of 7% the year before - and a doubling over the period since 2010/11, when the reported figure was 3,975.

The latest figures were gathered by the Combined Homelessness Information Network (CHAIN), which is commissioned and funded by the GLA and managed by St Mungo's.

CHAIN records the number of people seen by outreach workers bedded down on the street, or in places such as doorways, stairwells, parks, and derelict buildings.

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