Many of us have witnessed homelessness in our communities, whether we are in towns, cities, villages or in more rural areas. When we see people rough sleeping and struggling to get their basic needs met, we often feel a strong sense of wanting to understand more about how this can happen and what we can do to help.

What statutory support is in place?

The legal definition of homelessness is that ‘a household has no home in the UK or anywhere else in the world available and reasonable to occupy (www.gov.uk). If a local authority has reason to believe that a person is homeless and eligible then they owe a ‘relief duty’. This means they must ‘take reasonable steps to help the applicant to secure that suitable accommodation becomes available for the applicant’s occupation for at least six months’.

However, to be eligible for relief duty, a person must have a local connection to the area. This means living, working or having close family in the area, leaving care, having refugee status, humanitarian protection or special circumstances, such as specialist health care. If a person has no local connection to the area, they may be referred to another local council where they do have a local connection.

Does that mean that everyone can access support?

Sadly, there are many people who do not meet the eligibility criteria and therefore are not entitled to help with housing. There are often many complex environmental and personal issues that have contributed to homelessness.

The most common reason people give for losing their accommodation is ‘relationship breakdown’. Other personal issues can include childhood trauma, mental illness, poor physical health, dependency on alcohol and drugs, bereavement, involvement with criminal and offending behaviour. Environmental issues can include poverty, inequality, a shortage of housing, a lack of affordable housing and unemployment.

So how many more people are experiencing homelessness?

Rough sleeping is the most visible form of homelessness but really, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Because rough sleeping is so dangerous, it is difficult to obtain an accurate count of people who are sleeping rough. Because so many people hide away to keep safe, there are limitations to the approach. 

Another situation that classes as homelessness, meaning that a person does not have adequate stable accommodation, is ‘temporary accommodation’. This includes night or winter shelters, hostels, bed and breakfasts, women’s refuges, private and social housing. These are often services that require a referral. So, in these cases people are more visible and more likely to be offered support.

The majority of ‘homeless people’ are hidden from statistics and services as they are dealing with their situation informally. This could mean staying with family and friends, sofa surfing, living in unsuitable housing such as squats or in sheds. These people will not be visible in any official figures. This is called ‘hidden homeless’.

In 2004, national homeless charity Crisis, estimated that there were approximately 380,000 people in this category in the UK and homelessness has been steadily rising in the last decade. Read more about a report ‘The hidden truth about homelessness’ published in 2011 by Kesia Reeve, for Crisis here.

‘Hidden homelessness’ affects the most vulnerable people in our society. It is often a result of any combination of the complex environmental and personal factors. This is particularly true for women experiencing domestic violence, alcohol and drug dependency, mental illness, trauma or childhood abuse. In 2017 a report ‘Nowhere to turn’ published by Women’s Aid showed that women are repeatedly turned away from refugees because they don’t meet the criteria to fund their place.

What does Emmanuel House do to reach those who are ‘hidden’?

Emmanuel House Support Centre, with its Winter Shelter and Outreach teams, exists to support these most vulnerable people in Nottingham and our support workers work with every individual to meet their basic needs and to access services that best suit their ongoing needs. Our main aim is to prevent people from becoming homeless and to support those who are homeless into accommodation.

Read more about how our support workers engage with people who are ‘hidden homeless’ and support them to make positive changes in their lives:

Dariusz, Navigator: https://www.emmanuelhouse.org.uk/staff-profile-dariusz-navigator/

Hannah, Navigator: https://www.emmanuelhouse.org.uk/international-womens-day-staff-spotlight-hannah/

If you would like to support the work of Emmanuel House, please get in touch with our Marketing and Fundraising team. We would love to hear from you.