Homelessness

The term “homelessness” refers to people that; find themselves having to ‘sleep rough‘; are housed in temporary accommodation; are at risk of losing their home; are in unsuitable accommodation; or cannot afford to remain in their current home. 

In legal terms a person is homeless if: 

• They have no accommodation available in the UK or abroad 
• They have no legal right to occupy an accommodation 
• They have a split household and accommodation is not available for the whole household 
• It is unreasonable to continue to occupy their accommodation 
• They are at risk of violence from any person 
• They are unable to secure entry to their accommodation 
• They live in a moveable structure but have no place to put it (Source: Shelter) 

Homelessness results from a range of interrelated factors. Social factors such as lack of affordable housing, poverty, and unemployment; life events such as relationship breakdown, losing a job, an acute decline in mental or physical health, substance misuse. Most commonly, a combination of any of these factors. Familiar narratives involves homelessness upon leaving prison, leaving the armed forces, or when fleeing domestic abuse. 

Homelessness has a direct impact on people’s health and wellbeing and, conversely, health problems can contribute to risk of homelessness. Homelessness greatly complicates health treatment and is recognised to be associated with worse health outcomes and a drastically short life expectancy. 

Living in insecure accommodation can deeply impact health and wellbeing of residents as the threat of homelessness looms over residents. The stability and security of housing relates to the extent to which people have control over how long they live in their homes, and how secure they feel. Housing instability is a stressor that harms health, while frequent relocation undermines and weakens engagement with health services as well as the friendships and relationships that make a community. 

There are many outcomes from losing “the roof over your head”: losing regular contact with those that matter to you; a heightened risk of mental and physical health problems; increased risk of suffering loneliness. Research shows homeless people experience some of the highest rates of loneliness and isolation in the UK. Feeling left out, unheard, unrepresented is compounded by a lack of companionship that many take for granted, making it that much harder to escape homelessness and address support needs (Source: Crisis). 

Homeless people feel a pervading sense of rejection by those not experiencing homelessness. Precarious connections with other homeless people can become the only form of social contact, which can be both supportive but also troubling. Many homeless people do not want to admit their situation to friends or family, colleagues or school friends, and believe their secret isolates them from others (Source: WaveLength). 

Housing security is the degree to which people feel certain of remaining in their home. Housing security has a robust relationship to housing affordability – the ability of a household to manage mortgage or rent payments. Housing payment problems and imminent eviction or repossession are considerably costly to psychological wellbeing, with the effects being larger for homeowners who have made larger financial and emotional investments in their home than renters. Housing tenure matters because private renters have less legal protection against eviction than social renters or mortgage holders. The ending of private sector tenancies correlates with homelessness (Source: The Health Foundation). 

• The Housing Act 1996 (as amended) Part 7, is the legislation determining responses to homelessness, and includes: 
  • principal criteria for determining which duties a local authority owes to a homeless applicant 
  • the duties to inquire into an application 
  • when and how an applicant should be notified of a decision 
  • main accommodation duties and how they can be discharged 
  • how a decision can be challenged. 
• The Homelessness Act 2002 requires local authorities to: regularly review the levels (and predicted future levels) of homelessness in each authority’s area; formulate a homelessness strategy. 
• The Homelessness Reduction Act 2018 granted legal duties to local authorities so every person, either homeless or at risk of homelessness, will have access to assistance irrespective of their priority need status, if they are eligible for assistance. With a focus on prevention, funding with a Homelessness Prevention Grant, the Act places additional duties on local housing authorities to prevent and relieve homelessness by providing earlier assessment and assistance, and becoming proactive rather than reactive to a person’s homeless crisis. 
• ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’ is the updated cross Government strategy released in 2022, to specify the wide-ranging causes, impacts, and solutions to homelessness, backed with £2billion of funding. The strategy is the Government’s pledge to end rough sleeping for good with actions such as Rough Sleeper Initiatives, Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, and a Rough Sleeper Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant. The strategy advocates a whole system approach. 
• The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 provides for victims who have suffered domestic abuse. The Act includes a duty for local authorities to provide support in safe accommodation. 
• The Preventing Domestic Abuse Strategy sets out a multi-agency response to support victims of domestic abuse across Lincolnshire. 
• The Care Act 2014 details a framework in which agencies collaborate to protect children, young adults, and people with care and support needs. 
• Housing is one of seven priorities in Lincolnshire’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. To implement the Priority Deliver Plan, the Health and Wellbeing Board has established a Housing Health and Care Delivery Group (HHCDG). 
• Implementing HHCDG’s Lincolnshire Homes for Independence blueprint will enable people with care and support needs, including the homeless, to live independently, stay connected, and have greater choice in where and how they live. There is a Delivery Plan for this initiative. 
• The Lincolnshire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy respects the government requirement for cross-agency collaboration. 

The characteristics and challenges affecting housing security and homelessness differ across the county: 

• Lincoln is a university city where the number of students affects the availability of accommodation. Rent is comparatively high due to availability, desirability, and competition with the tourist market visiting an historic city. A high level of service and accommodation provision is available, and many homeless people move to access these. The extra burden on services creates issues of access to services. 
• Boston borough comprises the main market town and 18 rural parishes. Employment in the agricultural sector has meant Boston has one of the highest levels of inward migration in the country, although this has recently slowed. Rapid population growth has pressurized services and housing availability resulting in high levels of poor-quality accommodation with rents that are disproportionately high compared to low wages. Boston has recently seen an increase in requests for help from many people who have no recourse to public funds.  
• South Holland, like Boston, has a high proportion of agricultural employment and high numbers of migrant workers. Wages are considered low – making affordability of accommodation a challenge for many. Regardless of an increase in housing development, accommodation is still unaffordable to those in need, and this has increased rough sleeping. 
• East Lindsey is coastal and rural, presenting challenges of seasonal employment and access to services. The coastal towns of Skegness and Mablethorpe have increased numbers of people sleeping rough during the summer months. The area is appealing to retirees which presents challenges finding suitably adapted accommodation. 
• North Hykeham is popular with developers for new housing and new business parks attracts business owners. This has impacted the affordability of housing. North Kesteven has one of the lowest rates of rough sleeping and has seen an increase in economic activity over recent years. Sleaford has lower house prices but few accessible services. 

Housing authorities are required to report statistics of their homelessness activity to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), published quarterly in H-CLIC. This includes aggregated data on: 

• reason for threat or homelessness,  
• demographic data of the person presenting as homeless or at risk of homelessness,  
• support needs of applicant,  
• numbers of households whose housing need has been resolved; and more.  

All of Lincolnshire’s housing authorities report an increase in the number of people with complex and/or multiple needs, and a trend of increasing levels of need, which may include mental and physical ill-health and substance misuse issues. Although numbers of people sleeping rough in Lincolnshire fluctuates, the highest levels are found in Lincoln, Boston, and East Lindsey.  

Evidence shows: 

• Homeless people experience poorer physical and mental health than the general population. Common issues include mental ill health, alcohol abuse, drug use, and violence. 
• Homeless people have a much higher risk of death from a range of causes than the general population. The average age of death for a homeless male is 47 compared to 77 in the general population and for women is 43 compared to 80 (Source: Crisis). 
• People sleeping on the street are 17 times more likely to be a victim of violence (Source: Housing Justice).  More than one in three people sleeping rough have been hit, kicked, or experienced some sort of violence whilst homeless.  
• Homeless people are nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population (Source: Crisis) 
• Homeless children have higher rates of health problems, and their development can be affected (Source: LGA) 
• Children in poverty are more than twice as likely to have moved three or more times by the age of 14 compared with children not in poverty.  

Lincolnshire’s District Councils are the local housing authorities and have the most statutory duties regarding homelessness, housing advice, allocations policies, planning, and new housing provision. Tackling homelessness requires a partnership response to, firstly, prevent it occurring and, secondly, to reduce reoccurrences. 

The HHCDG is attended by representatives of; Lincolnshire County Council, all district councils, NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS Trusts, Lincolnshire Police, social housing providers, Department for Work and Pension (DWP), and more. All other Lincolnshire housing partnerships and working groups have re-formed in the last 12 months to ensure appropriate remits and attendees. One principal subgroup considers insecure homes and homelessness and coordinates work with: 

• Lincolnshire Homelessness Strategy Partnership 
• Lincolnshire Healthy and Accessible Homes Group 
• Lincolnshire Housing Standards Group
• Lincolnshire Refugee Resettlement Partnership. 

Partners have established an increase in capacity for the Public Health Intelligence allowing the Team to deliver a shared, housing intelligence role that will improve knowledge and understanding of the causes and effects of insecure homes and homelessness. 

The Lincolnshire Homelessness Strategy Partnership monitors the workstreams reported in the homelessness and rough sleeping strategy. Action groups are aligned to each priority. A manager is in post to coordinate actions across the Lincolnshire Housing Partnership. Partnership working has resulted in tangible improvements to homelessness services and to the accessibility of universal services that homeless people, or people at risk of homelessness, may need to access.  Successes include: 

• Significant increase in number of homelessness preventions. 
• Improved access to health services for the homeless or at risk of homelessness. 
• A prison-release protocol is in place to prevent ex-offenders becoming homeless or having to sleep rough upon release. 
• Additional funding for specialist outreach substance misuse workers. This has allowed increased access to treatment for the homeless/at risk. 
• Joint development of commissioned services has resulted in clear pathways to services. 
• Access to funding opportunities 
• Increased provision of specialist accommodation and support for those sleeping rough/at risk. 
• Increased support for sustaining tenancies, across the county. 
• Three, Rough Sleeper Initiatives across the county. 

The voluntary, community and social enterprise sector is very active and highly respected in Lincolnshire.  The support provided by charities and volunteers ranges from, community groups providing warm food on winter streets, to larger charities providing accommodation and specialist support.  Some examples… 

• In Lincoln: Nomad provides 22 units of accommodation; support; and meals. 
• In Boston: Centrepoint Boston provides drop-in support and guidance, food, showers, and furniture.  
• P3 provides some accommodation and support across the county. 

District councils have refreshed their Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) to support those sleeping rough, during periods of extreme cold and extreme, prolonged heat. 

The Lincolnshire Resettlement Partnership oversees and co-ordinates activity across an increasing number of resettlement programmes, seeking to ensure that migrants arriving in the county are supported and accommodated. The partnership is alert to the risks of these individuals becoming homeless and has identified measures to ensure effective advice and support is provided. 

Extensive public and stakeholder consultation informs the Lincolnshire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. Identified priorities included: 

• More accommodation for single people  
• More mental health support 
• Support to finding solutions for those with no recourse to public funds 
• Identifying the scale of hidden homelessness and ‘sofa surfing’ 
• Utilising funding on a countywide basis and pooling resources wherever possible 

Regular consultation with stakeholders and service users, when applying for funding and commissioning services, ensures service provision meets the needs of those requiring assistance. Feedback from service users is gathered on all new initiatives. 

Accommodation 

• A shortage of temporary accommodation results in the need to use Bed and Breakfast accommodation. There is limited availability in many areas. 
• A shortage of accommodation for single people – especially those with high support needs who struggle with the conditions in a hostel. 
• A shortage of ‘move-on’ options – from temporary and from commissioned, supported accommodation. 
• A shortage of emergency accommodation will become apparent during periods when the SWEP is activated. Global predictions of an increasing number and intensity of extreme weather events could make this critical to human life. 

Access to services 

• A need for an emergency response for clients; crisis teams are often not as reactive as individuals require. 
• A need for a national solution for homeless people with no recourse to public funds. 
• A need for consistency when vulnerable adults need support from multi-agency panels. 
• A need for more support for drug and alcohol misuse across the county through housing support and assertive outreach. 

Private Rented Sector 

• A need to ensure access to safe and secure accommodation in this sector – and from social letting agencies; and to explore mechanisms for accreditation, safety checks and inspections. 
• A need to know how many landlords are leaving the sector, and why, and what can be done to prevent this to secure an adequate supply of homes. 
• A need to work with landlords to prevent evictions, and to provide debt and financial advice. 

Health partnerships 

• Closer working is needed with mental health services to gain better access to support for those with or without a diagnosis, and for a joint approach to those with a dual diagnosis of substance misuse and mental ill-health. 
• A need for assertive support for people with mental health issues who struggle to engage with mainstream provision.  
• A need for greater funding, to spread the geographical scope of locally-centered homeless organisations such as The Holistic Health for Homeless group – currently focused in Lincoln. 

Research 

• A need for a robust evidence base for numbers of homeless – including ‘sofa surfers’ and of those in unfit housing. 
• A need to map homeless provision in Lincolnshire, including eligibility. 
• A need to know how many people become homeless due to untreated health conditions. 

All the challenges above are highlighted in the Lincolnshire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. Opportunities to increase the provision of accommodation, to expand support services and develop homelessness initiatives will be progressed through partnership action groups. A partnership approach shows commitment to the Government’s vision that homelessness should be rare, brief, and non-recurring.

A wealth of research into the causes of homelessness, and more, can be found here:

• Action for Children
• Crisis UK
• Homeless Link
• Shelter England