An article examined the impact of prevention-centred homelessness policy responses to domestic violence, with specific reference to the 'sanctuary' model. It said that sanctuary services had the potential to provide greater autonomy to some women, but they were not appropriate for all. (Sanctuary schemes support women to remain in their existing residence, protected against attack from outside the home.)
Source: Gina Netto, Hal Pawson and Cathy Sharp, 'Preventing homelessness due to domestic violence: providing a safe space or closing the door to new possibilities?', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 43 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Dec
A report said that rough sleeping should be tackled as a public health issue, with the Department of Health taking a lead on improving mental health services for vulnerable people.
Source: Down and Out? The final report of St Mungo's Call 4 Evidence – Mental health and street homelessness, St. Mungo's
Links: Report | St Mungos press release
Date: 2009-Dec
The housing watchdog in Scotland examined the contribution of registered social landlords in Scotland to helping local authorities meet their duties to homeless people, with a particular focus on meeting the 2012 target to give permanent accommodation to all homeless people. Progress towards the 2012 target was not consistent across Scotland, and councils would have to rely more on RSLs to provide temporary and permanent accommodation to homeless households. All social landlords would need to focus more on preventing homelessness and sustaining tenancies.
Source: Thematic Report: RSLs and Homelessness – The contribution of registered social landlords to preventing and alleviating homelessness in Scotland, Scottish Housing Regulator (0141 271 3810)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Nov
A new set of statistics was published showing the number of households in England that were prevented from becoming homeless or helped to find alternative accommodation by their local council.
Source: Homelessness Prevention and Relief: England 2008/09 experimental statistics, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Shelter press release
Date: 2009-Nov
The government published a progress report on action to stem the flow of new rough sleepers coming on to the street and to reach entrenched rough sleepers.
Source: No One Left Out: Communities ending rough sleeping – An annual progress report, November 2008-November 2009, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Community Care report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Nov
Researchers examined solutions that would meet the emergency accommodation needs of young runaways (based on a series of interviews and consultation exercises with professionals and young people). The study also reviewed previous research and other literature on the issue of running away.
Source: Gwyther Rees, Myfanwy Franks, Ros Medforth and Jim Wade, Commissioning, Delivery and Perceptions of Emergency Accommodation for Young Runaways, Research Report RR181, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Childrens Society press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Nov
A new book examined the personal, familial, and structural factors that affected long-term outcomes for homeless young people.
Source: Shelley Mallett, Doreen Rosenthal, Deborah Keys and Roger Averill, Moving Out, Moving On: Young people's pathways in and through homelessness, Routledge (01264 343071)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Nov
A report examined the lives of children and young people living alone and at risk on the streets, and highlighted the extent to which too many of them were not getting the right support at the right time.
Source: Emilie Smeaton, Off the Radar: Children and young people on the streets in the UK, Railway Children
Links: Summary | Railway Children press release | New Start report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that family breakdown was the root cause of youth homelessness, and was likely to increase as unemployment rose. Nearly two-thirds of young people who had left home over the previous year did so because of arguments and a breakdown in relationships.
Source: Jennifer Monfort, Family Life: The significance of family to homeless young people, Centrepoint (020 7426 5300)
Links: Report | Centrepoint press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Nov
The human rights watchdog in Northern Ireland highlighted serious human rights concerns in relation to homeless non-United Kingdom nationals in Northern Ireland who were excluded from accessing public funds.
Source: Sorcha McKenna and Roisin Devlin, No Home from Home: Homelessness for people with no or limited access to public funds, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (028 9024 3987)
Links: Report | NIHRC press release
Date: 2009-Sep
An article examined how homeless women understood their choice to undertake sex work. Homeless women's decisions were, in part, a consequence of systemic familial abuse and coercion from abusive partners: but, in responding to the complex needs of such women, 'abuse' and 'coercion' should not routinely be equated with 'victimhood'.
Source: Rachel Harding and Paul Hamilton, 'Working girls: abuse or choice in street-level sex work? A study of homeless women in Nottingham', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 39 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Sep
There were 60,230 households in England at the end of June 2009 living in accommodation arranged by local authorities under the statutory homelessness provisions (down 19 per cent on a year earlier).
Source: Statutory Homelessness: April to June Quarter 2009, England, Department for Communities and Local Government (020 7944 3000)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Sep
An undercover investigation found that many local councils were failing to help single homeless people and to provide them with the advice and assistance to which they were legally entitled. Investigators posing as single homeless people were often not even allowed to talk to a housing officer, but were instead turned away by a receptionist on the grounds that they were 'not a priority'.
Source: No One's Priority: The treatment of single homeless people by local authority homelessness services, Crisis (020 7015 1800)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
The Welsh Assembly Government published (following consultation) a 10-year plan to cut homelessness and alleviate its social effects. Earlier prevention, linked to timely advice and direct help, would be achieved through changes to the way services were delivered for individuals and families to prevent them from becoming homeless. For those who did find themselves homeless, the plan was designed to improve the accommodation and other services available to them.
Source: Ten Year Homelessness Plan for Wales 2009 to 2019, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Plan | Consultation document | BBC report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report summarized a peer research study in which people with experience of homelessness interviewed 103 people who were either sleeping rough, or in emergency shelters, hostels, or high-support housing. 85 per cent of those interviewed either had a diagnosed mental health problem or had concerns about their mental health. Despite improvements in mental health service provision, homeless people were still not able to access the treatment and support they needed.
Source: Helen Bilton, Happiness Matters: Homeless people's views about breaking the link between homelessness and mental ill health, St. Mungo's (020 8600 3003)
Links: Report | St Mungo's press release | Community Care report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Jul
The Law Lords ruled that women who were occupying rooms in women's refuges, having fled domestic violence, did not have any accommodation that it was reasonable to continue to occupy. As a result, they were 'homeless' within the statutory definition of homelessness, and entitled to the benefit of homelessness assistance from local housing authorities.
Source: Birmingham City Council v Ali and others, and Moran v Manchester City Council, UKHL 36 (Session 2008-09), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | Womens Aid press release
Date: 2009-Jul
A new book examined the contemporary nature of homelessness and responses to it, focusing on developments since 1997. It considered not only the 'problems' associated with homelessness but also the 'solutions' that had been identified as effective means to prevent and/or address homelessness.
Source: Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Deborah Quilgars and Nicholas Pleace (eds.), Homelessness in the UK: Problems and solutions, Chartered Institute of Housing (024 7685 1700)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Jun
The Law Lords ruled that local councils had a duty to assess the wider needs of young people aged 16-17 who became homeless – and not simply provide accommodation.
Source: R (on the application of G) (FC) v London Borough of Southwark, UKHL 26 (Session 2008-09), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-May
A literature review examined mental ill-health in the adult single homeless population. Mental health problems were far higher among homeless people than the general population, and the government would fail to meet its zero rough sleeping target by 2012 if mental health services for homeless people were not urgently improved.
Source: Sian Rees, Mental Ill Health in the Adult Single Homeless Population: A review of the literature, Crisis (020 7015 1800)
Links: Report | Crisis press release | Inside Housing report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report examined the approach of the Christian Church to the problem of rough sleeping.
Source: Rough Sleeping: Compassion v Coercion – Church, community and government responses, Housing Justice (020 7723 7273)
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Apr
There were 67,480 households in England at the end of December 2008 living in accommodation arranged by local authorities under the statutory homelessness provisions (down 15 per cent on a year earlier).
Source: Statutory Homelessness: England 4th Quarter 2008, Department for Communities and Local Government (020 7944 3000)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Mar
An article provided a 'critical realist' conceptual framework that allowed individual agency – especially 'transgressive acts', such as refusal to engage with support services, alcohol misuse, and street sex work – to be taken into account in explaining homelessness, along social structural factors.
Source: Carol Mcnaughton Nicholls, 'Agency, transgression and the causation of homelessness: a contextualised rational action analysis', European Journal of Housing Policy, Volume 9 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Mar
An article examined findings from a study of a specialized tenancy support service for homeless substance-users (in a Midlands city). Two approaches to tenancy support were explored: first, a resettlement model based on risk management; and, second, a restorative model which prioritized support that enabled people to rebuild their lives in a more 'holistic' sense. There was a need for broader training for tenancy support workers and a funding level that enabled them to stay with their clients long enough to facilitate this fuller restoration.
Source: Graham Bowpitt and Rachel Harding, 'Not going it alone: social integration and tenancy sustainability for formerly homeless substance users', Social Policy and Society, Volume 8 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jan
A report said that additional incentives were needed to encourage homeless people to make a lasting transition out of homelessness into sustainable employment.
Source: Making Work, Work: Recommendations for supporting homeless people to gain and sustain employment, Business in the Community (0870 600 2482)
Links: Report | BiC press release
Date: 2009-Jan
