What’s the best way to help someone who is homeless? Expand We always recommend registering with your local authority who has a duty to help you under the Homeless Reduction Act 2018. Councils now have a duty to prevent and relieve homelessness and your local authority might be able to help you. Alternatively you can visit a charity like Barnabus for an assessment to find out what options are open to you. If you are trying to help someone who is street homeless, we recommend downloading the Street Support App to find them somewhere to go. Taking time for a chat and perhaps offering a coffee or a bottle of water is appreciated. There are plenty of places for people to go to for food and we regard giving out food on the street as helping people to stay there: there’s no reason to visit a charity like Barnabus which will work to find you somewhere to stay. We don’t recommend under 18s on street outreach as it is impossible to safeguard young people in a public place.
Who are the hidden homeless? Expand Homelessness is not limited to rough sleepers. There are countless people living with relatives and friends, sleeping on sofas, living in temporary accommodation such as hostels and bed and breakfasts. If you don’t have a place to call your own where you can lock the door, you are homeless. We can’t accurately count the number of people who are ‘hidden’ as many do not report to the local authority or to charities until they run out of options.
Who are the organisations in the Manchester Homeless Partnership? Expand Manchester alone has over 46 charities working to alleviate homelessness and poverty. Barnabus and other homeless charities work together with the council, Greater Manchester Police, the NHS, faith communities and statutory bodies to help people find a home. You can find out more at www.streetsupport.net; download the app to iPhone or Android to find out where you can find help or direct people for help.
What is being done to help people find a home? Expand In 2015 Manchester launched the Manchester Homeless Partnership, bringing the city together to find innovative partnerships to help people get off the street. When the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham, was elected, he pledged to reduce or end rough sleeping by 2020 by encouraging the whole of Greater Manchester to adopt Manchester’s initiative. Initiatives like the Social Impact Bond(insert link) and Housing First(insert link) help people to move into a home first and address their issues when they have a safe place to live.
Why are there so many homeless people in Manchester? Expand Greater Manchester is suffering from a unique set of circumstances whereby we don’t have enough social and affordable housing in one of the most desirable cities in the UK. Manchester’s property boom continues to increase rent and house prices, making a home unaffordable for those on low incomes or housing benefit. Local housing allowance has not kept pace with the increase in rent and the introduction of Universal Credit in 2014 means that we have a high number of people in rent arrears living below the breadline, reliant on foodbanks and charities to survive.
Why do people become homeless? Expand That’s not an easy question to answer as it’s so complex. Anyone can become homeless, from people who have been released from prison or have left the care system, through to people who seem to have stable lives but might have a number of issues which cause them to become homeless. Poverty and relationship breakdown are the biggest causes of homelessness amongst the people who come to Barnabus. Increasingly we are seeing people made homeless through ‘no fault’ evictions from private tenancies, where the landlord might choose to sell the property or charge a higher rent.