Homelessness within ex-Armed Forces Personnel - Riverside

<strong>Homelessness</strong> <strong>within</strong> the UK: an overview A review of government quarterly figures reporting on homelessness <strong>within</strong> England shows that 25,980 applications were made for housing assistance from local housing authorities between April and June 2011 (Department for Communities and Local Government 2011). This is 17% higher than for the same quarter in 2010. In fact, the figures for these applications have increased over five consecutive quarters, suggesting an ongoing trend in this direction. A snapshot study from England conducted in autumn 2010 further identified 1,768 individuals as rough sleepers, defined as an individual who is ‘bedded down’ on the streets (Department for Communities and Local Government 2011). Due to the fallout following the global financial crisis of the late 2000s, highly respected charities and organisations such as Crisis and Homeless Link have become concerned that this increased need for housing assistance may signal a continuing upward trend in the coming years. Combining this with economic reforms and high unemployment figures is predicted to cause a swell in the numbers of homeless families and single individuals, increasing the strain on these already oversubscribed services (Homeless Link; Crisis; St Mungos; Shelter, 2010). The welfare reforms currently being undertaken by the current Coalition Government may play a contributory factor in the number of individuals becoming homeless. The proposed housing benefit reforms, which will see a cap being placed upon the amount of benefit which individuals are entitled to, will restrict the amount of available properties that low income households can afford (Fitzpatrick, Pawson, Bramley and Wilcox, 2011). The Coalition Government recently published a paper outlining their change agenda towards rough sleeping (Department for Communities and Local Government 2011). The paper highlights the rise in rough sleeping figures along with proposed initiatives to combat this growing issue. The majority of rough sleepers are identified as single homeless people with specific support needs, for <strong>ex</strong>ample alcohol and/or drug abuse issues; mental health problems; prior criminal history or stays in prison; individuals who have previously been in care; and <strong>ex</strong>-<strong>Armed</strong> <strong>Forces</strong> <strong>Personnel</strong>. The initiatives put forward to combat this issue include the use of 24-hour telephone helplines used in coordination with outreach teams, which can be dispatched to aid reported rough sleepers. The paper called ‘Vision to end rough sleeping: no second night out nationwide’ states that this swift approach will prevent individuals becoming entrenched rough sleepers, therefore reducing the amount of social <strong>ex</strong>clusion. In order for this approach to be successful it must be coordinated with offers of appropriate accommodation and support shaped to the individual’s unique needs. As highlighted above, statutory homeless figures have risen for the previous five consecutive quarters and are set to increase as parallel initiatives are implemented, which will restrict access to private sector rented accommodation. Research in this area suggests that many contributory factors may be responsible for this worrying trend. The global financial crisis coupled with the current difficulty which first time buyers are having in obtaining affordable mortgages – the average deposit being around 20% of the property’s value (The Lloyds Banking Group Plc, 2011) – has led to a higher proportion of people renting accommodation. The benefit reforms proposed by the Coalition Government may restrict the access to suitable rented accommodation for many low income families and, when combined with high rates of unemployment, the impacts on those from the lower socio-economic demographics become clear. 6 7