For the latest edition of the Leader’s Blog, there is a guest entry by Councillor Emma Taylor, Cabinet Member for Citizen Services.

Street Homelessness – A complicated issue that is about so much more than housing.

Homelessness is so much more than rough sleeping. At the last count we had 31 people sleeping rough on our streets but experience tells us there are many more who are sofa surfing, squatting and sleeping in vehicles. On top of this we have over 300 households living in temporary accommodation which is increasingly outside of Worthing which causes hardship in itself as it leaves people unable to access valuable support networks such as their GPs, family and friends as well as schools and workplaces. On top of this a chronic shortage of move on options means that people are becoming trapped in unsuitable accommodation for too long and it is taking a real toll on individual’s and families’ mental and physical wellbeing. Homelessness is awful for anyone to experience and the effects are long lasting but today I wanted focus on giving a voice to our street homeless people, who rarely get the opportunity to make themselves heard or give their side of the story.

During my years volunteering at the winter night shelters and doing soup runs around the town I truly learned that there is no such thing as a typical homeless person. The only certain shared characteristic is that they do not have their own home. Though whilst no two people are the same there are certainly patterns. For example the main reason for becoming homeless in Worthing is the breakdown of a private rental agreement or family arrangement. This is something on the rise during the cost of living emergency as people simply cannot afford the rent increases. Another very common theme is mental health difficulties, often linked to past trauma and this poor mental health sometimes manifests in a number of behaviours which can include addiction and substance mis use. I have met teachers; veterans; police officers; labourers; nurses; chefs; book worms; musicians and artists all with so much to offer the world and yet had found themselves caught in a snowball of unfortunate events that had led to them losing their home. One gentleman told me how when his wife died he couldn’t cope with going to work and subsequently within three months lost his job and his tenancy. The terrifying reality is that half of working renters are only one pay cheque away from losing their home. It really could happen to any of us.

The longer anyone lives outside, the more entrenched they become and the harder it is to break the cycle. Mental and physical health decline rapidly with the average life expectancy being just 45 years for a man and 43 for a woman. Indeed I have lost many, many people who I had the privilege to form a connection with over the last 7 years. You see their physical decline in their weight; muscle loss; tooth decay and infections resulting from a combination of malnutrition and being exposed to the elements day and night, all year round. One young man had to have his leg amputated at the knee because he was not able to keep it dry and elevated on discharge from hospital following an infection. The desperation to get warm and dry sometimes leads people to take criminal action in the hope of being arrested and detained. Imagine how desperate a person must have to be to think that prison is a better option.

Many do not have the support of a single family member. Some burned their bridges recently; others felt too much shame to admit what had become of them and others had never really been parented or looked after in their lives. There are people on the streets of Worthing today who have never had a fixed address in their entire adult lives, let that sink in! Whatever the reason it really shows how vulnerable people are who do not have strong family connections and how in these circumstances, street community friends become surrogate family and their bonds are intense and complex. It is also important to remember that not everyone’s experience of being homeless is the same. As in all walks of life there are various levels of discrimination and oppression at play. I have witnessed racism, homophobia and sexism at play effecting the type of intervention and support that is required and offered. You meet less women who are rough sleeping but those you do meet tend to have experienced high levels of trauma. Generally speaking women find it easier to find someone to take them in, though this in itself can be a danger due to their risk of abuse and exploitation. So once a women has found herself street homeless, it is generally at the end of a long, complicated and painful ordeal and it stands to reason that anyone who has suffered trauma is going to have higher support needs to get back on their feet.

It really frustrates me how single homeless people are subject to some of the most vile and hostile rhetoric by a small section of society. The way they are spoken about in popular discourse is dehumanising and often factually incorrect. Having seen what a barrier not having a fixed address can be, I have come to believe that housing should be considered a protected characteristic. If this were the case then a lot of the negative things that are said about homeless people would be classified as hate speech. Shockingly it is not uncommon for homeless people to experience verbal and physical attacks from passers-by. People have recounted to me being urinated on and sleeping with their shoes on and sleeping bag half undone in case they need to run. One man I knew was set alight! People without a home need our protection and those with elevated voices should be mindful of the words they use as derogatory and dehumanising language encourages harm.

Our Labour administration sees the housing crisis as the single most vital issue in our town. However we operate under a Conservative Government who have presided over the most rapid worsening of inequality ever seen in our Country. We need a change of Government and make no mistake the local Labour Parties will be campaigning consistently ready for a general election next year.

Locally our plan is two-fold. Firstly we want to get everyone off the streets and bring back to Worthing anyone placed outside, unless that was their preference. To do this we urgently need to build and procure our own emergency and temporary accommodation, giving us control over the sustainability, quality, cost and location of placements. Some of this accommodation will need to have specialist support on site to help the people residing there to feel safe and support them over time to sustain a tenancy independently.

Secondly but simultaneously, we need to create move on options. Too often people end up trapped in temporary accommodation, beyond when they were ready to move on because there are no next step options available. The private rental market is out of control and the local wages and housing allowance payments are far behind. On top of this, housing associations often have their own referral criteria and so will refuse some of the people we most need them to house. The answer lies in the building of net zero council housing and we have some key sites in mind for this including Teville Gate. In order to find faster solutions we are also exploring all opportunities to repurpose out existing stock.

The situation is so urgent we have no time to lose and every opportunity will be explored. Modern methods of construction, modular builds, repurposing of existing buildings and buying off plan, all offer the opportunity to make places available faster than new build. In terms of getting people off the streets and back into Worthing, even a temporary shipping container style development could save lives and buy us some time to develop longer term options.

For the many reasons outlined a number of rough sleepers will need more than just a home. If we fail to address the full extent of an individual’s needs then we will just perpetuate a cycle of homelessness. What is clearly lacking is mental health and addiction support and at times adult social care. Systematic cuts that have occurred throughout over a decade of Conservative austerity measures have had devastating effects on our communities and as a result we are seeing more people with complex needs acting out which in turn plays into the demonisation of street homeless people. This needs to end. The Government must urgently invest in health and social care and at the same time make funding available for local authorities to provide accommodation that is accessible to all, at rents that are in line with local entitlements and wages. Without this commitment, all our local aspirations will be proverbial sticking plasters rather than lasting solutions to the real issues.