National Homeless Day 10th October – what help is available to those facing an uncertain future?

People become homeless for many different reasons – lack of affordable housing, poverty, employment, or unexpected life changes.

As the impact of the cost-of-living crisis continues to be felt up and down the country, more households than ever before are now facing a homeless future. This is being driven by soaring private rents – this year they’ve increase at their fastest rate for nearly nine years – combined with a huge shortage of social housing.

Estate agency Hampton’s recently revealed the average rental home outside of London now costs £1,304 a month – totally unaffordable to many. At the same time there’s 1.2 million households on the waiting list for a social housing property.

Some households are just about clinging on by going without essentials such as heating, food, and toiletries just to keep on top of payments, with some just one rent increase away from losing the roof over their heads.

The Big Issue magazine recently ran a story about Johanna – a mum of two who was made homeless after her rental property was turned into an Airbnb. She couldn’t find anywhere affordable to rent in her local area so she, and her daughters, were put on a waiting list for a council home but had to move into temporary accommodation in the meantime.

“I’ve never felt such a failure in my whole life,” she told the Big Issue. “I’m not in a financial situation to buy a house and pay for a mortgage. I just felt so powerless watching my children cry, because they missed their home and trying to explain to them why we weren’t allowed to live in the house anymore.”

Eventually Johanna chose to move back to mainland Scotland where she has family. She managed to find a two-bedroom house for £750 a month which isn’t big enough and is more than they can afford, but it’s somewhere to live.

She’s barely getting by on universal credit and constantly worries that she could not afford another rise in rent and could be made homeless again.

Johanna’s story is far from unique.

According to the charity Crisis, more than 200,000 households are currently considered homeless in England. That figure includes those sleeping rough, people living in sheds, garages and other unconventional buildings, sofa surfing, hostels, or periods in temporary accommodation, such as B&B’s.

Low-income families are more likely to face homelessness as there’s a higher chance they’ll fall behind on bills and be living in a budget deficit each month.

Debt and homelessness go hand in hand.

In the last three months, 69% of the people we’ve helped have a negative disposable income and a further 15% have between £0-£100 left to spend when all their bills have been paid.

What help is available if you think you’ll lose your home?

If you live in England, your council must help if you’re legally homeless or to be made homeless in the next eight weeks.

Your local council offers a range of support such as advice, emergency housing, support to find long term housing or help so you can stay in your home.

The help you’ll get will depend on your individual circumstances.

You’ll be classed as a priority if:

• Your household includes someone who is pregnant
• Your household includes dependent children
• You’re vulnerable e.g., due to old age or a mental or physical disability or includes someone who is vulnerable
• You are homeless because of domestic abuse
• You’re homeless because of an emergency such as a flood, fire, or other disaster.

You’ll be classed as intentionally homeless – and not entitled to the same level of support - if you do any of the following apply to you:

• You deliberately did or didn’t do something that caused you to be homeless by leaving your accommodation (unless it was in good faith)
• There was accommodation for you to live in and
• It was reasonable for you to live there
• You chose to leave or give up the property
• You’re leaving somewhere you can continue to live so that you can get help from the council
• You have arranged with your landlord to tell you to leave
• You took on a new tenancy or mortgage even though you knew you couldn’t afford the payments and have now lost your home due to arrears

There are other reasons your council could decide you’re intentionally homeless, such as anti-social behaviour.

If the council decides you’re intentionally homeless and you have dependent children, they must refer you to social services for help. You’ll have to agree to the referral.

Under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, social services have the power to help you find accommodation and might also help with rent in advance and a deposit.

If your council says they don’t have a house for you, social services will offer to house your children only. Any adults in the family will have to find their own accommodation.

Who can provide specialist help?

I you find yourself homeless, you should seek specialist help from one of the following organisations:

Shelter – visit www.shelter.org.uk or your local Shelter advice service. If you have nowhere to sleep tonight, are at risk of harm or losing your home within the next eight weeks, call the Shelter Helpline on 0808 8004444.

Crisis – find you local crisis centre at www.crisis.org.uk

Citizens Advice – visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk to find your nearest Citizens Advice centre.