A Home Should Be A Basic Human Right According To 90% Of The British Public

Despite 90 per cent of the British public's belief that having a home should be a basic human right, almost 400,000 people live in temporary accommodation, isolated and often with little hope of finding somewhere to call a home.

This Campaign Will Be Launched By Actress Michelle Collins And Glenda Jackson MP.

Despite 90 per cent of the British public's belief that having a home should be a basic human right, almost 400,000 people live in temporary accommodation, isolated and often with little hope of finding somewhere to call a home.[1] Although 95% of all homelessness is hidden, the plight of these people is not being sufficiently addressed because they are not visible.

According to Crisis, the national homelessness charity, which today launches its campaign to fight single hidden homelessness, these people exist below the surface of a homelessness iceberg. At a time when government is close to meeting its targets on tackling rough sleeping, the charity is concerned that the desperate needs of the majority will fall off the political agenda.

The vast majority of these people are extremely vulnerable. Often they have descended into a downward spiral of homelessness as a result of bereavement, relationship breakdown, mental health problems or a combination of these factors. Lacking the support of family and friends leaves them ill-equipped to cope with these life crises.

This year, it is estimated that local authorities will have to turn away 139,260 homeless people who wish to apply for housing[2]. What is left for people without the means or the legal rights to housing and support is a limited choice between bed and breakfasts, hostels, emergency shelters, squatting and eventually for some, sleeping rough. This is a picture of homelessness from which there can be little chance of escape. A new survey of homeless people reveals that[3]:

  • The average person has been homeless for over seven years so far.
  • Less than two years of that time has been spent on the streets - the rest of the time is spent moving from hostels to B&Bs, squats and friends' floors and sofas.
  • 38% of people came straight from the streets to the hostel they are now in. 37% of people find themselves sleeping on the streets immediately after leaving a hostel. This is the 'revolving door' syndrome, which results in homeless people repeatedly moving from the streets to hostels.
  • This is unlikely to be their last experience of sleeping rough. Over half of those people who have slept rough[4] before have been back to the streets more than five times.

It is no surprise therefore that 25% of deaths amongst homeless people occur as a result of suicide[5]. This compares to less than 1% of suicide deaths amongst the general population[6].

Crisis believes that rough sleeping and hidden homelessness are tightly interwoven problems and that in order to have really solved rough sleeping permanently the problems of those that exist in temporary accommodation must also be addressed.

"There is no quick and easy solution for the 400,000 homeless people whose lives are in crisis. The fact that the majority of them are hidden from view does not make them any less vulnerable than those people sleeping rough tonight. Without our help, they are at real risk of returning to the streets," said Shaks Ghosh, Chief Executive of Crisis.

Crisis hopes that its campaign will begin to create better understanding and empathy for the plight of hidden homeless people. It is also calling on the government to look at establishing a powerful taskforce with specific responsibility of prioritising the needs of single hidden homeless people.

Crisis believes that with the right help many hidden homeless people will be able to lead full independent lives. For others, moving into permanent independent housing may never be an option. These people may always need supported and appropriate but good quality housing but Crisis believes that society has a responsibility to provide such support.

Technical details

  • Copies of Hidden Homelessness, a media briefing, and Hidden But Not Forgotten, a new report about the experiences of hostel residents, are available in hard and soft format.
  • Actress Michelle Collins will unveil a poster advertising campaign on hidden homelessness in central London at 2pm on 3 December. Electronic copies of the poster are available.
  • MORI's Social Research Institute interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,935 adults aged 15 plus in Great Britain, in 194 constituency-based sampling points from 8 - 13 November 2001. All interviews were conducted face-to-face in-house using CAPI.
  • Written case studies and photographs will be available from the Crisis press office.
  1. Hidden Homelessness, Crisis Campaign, Crisis, 2001
  2. ODPM (DTLR), June 2001
  3. 52 hostel residents in London were interviewed for Hidden But Not Forgotten, Crisis, 2001
  4. Nearly nine in ten people surveyed have slept rough. Hidden But Not Forgotten, Crisis, 2001
  5. Homeless Factfile, Crisis, 1998.
  6. Crisis, 2001.

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