News

Homeless Link publishes two new reports today looking at the state of the homelessness sector and best practice as we emerge from the pandemic.

As we move out of lockdown, Fiona Colley, Director of StreetLink, discusses the picture of rough sleeping in England, the support available to people and what will happen next as StreetLink works alongside other services to help end rough sleeping.

A new research project, launched by City Bridge Trust, aims to support frontline workers in the voluntary sector, leading to longer-term organisational development.

Many councils, charities and faith groups are starting to think about their local emergency winter provision and for some the prospect of communal sleeping spaces will once again be under consideration. There are a number of factors which could influence decisions including the further relaxation of covid restrictions, vaccination progress, rising rate of rough sleeping and the rising rate of covid infections to name just a few.

The Chancellor's Budget announcements last Wednesday brought some welcome commitments on spending to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the next three years, but they fall short of our calls to bring Everyone In For Good. The crucial details on whether allocations will bring long-term stability to services and protect the Housing First Pilots remain unclear.

Media coverage about rough sleeping in 2020/21 has often focused on the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, and in particular hotel provision for those rough sleeping or at risk of rough sleeping. For part one of our Atlas launch blog series we look in more depth at new data about Everyone In.

For the past year, Homeless Link in partnership with Expert Link and Inspire Chilli, has been learning more about strengths-based working. This week we publish the first section of our toolkit, Becoming strengths-based, in which we outline why we think it’s so important and the key principles for working in a strengths-based way.

Homeless Link with our project partners the No Accommodation Network (NACCOM) are pleased to announce a timely new project aiming to improve the homelessness offer for migrants with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) in England.

We set out our concerns about Part 4 of the Police Bill, which could have an important implications for homelessness.

With pandemic restrictions lifting, many homelessness organisations are already reporting a rising number of people sleeping rough. Fiona Colley, Director of StreetLink talks about how members of the public can play a role in supporting people sleeping rough this winter.

Long-awaited guidance has shed light on the new rough sleeping Immigration Rules, but despite attempts to mitigate their worst aspects, Homeless Link remain deeply concerned about the impact they will have on vulnerable non-UK nationals and community trust in homelessness services.

From June this year, more young people have been able to benefit from greater financial support for their housing costs, helping them move on from homelessness for good. Billy Harding, Senior Policy and Research Officer at Centrepoint, talks about what this change means for young people and the campaign that made it happen.

140 single gender spaces will be created as part of a £3.7m fund providing safe accommodation with expert specialist support. We hear from one of our members Basis Yorkshire about what this funding means for the women they support and what key considerations are needed to ensure it delivers for women.

Enabling small-to-medium sized homelessness charities, community and faith groups and voluntary sector organisations to develop accommodation options that are self-contained, Covid-secure and dignified.

Back at the end of last year, we wrote about the need to get people with no home registered with GPs to maximise their chance of timely vaccination against COVID.

There’s lots of information about how members of the public can take positive action when they see someone sleeping rough in cold weather. But periods of hot weather can also be harmful for people sleeping rough. Director of StreetLink Fiona Colley discusses what people can do if they are concerned about someone sleeping rough during the summer months.

Regular readers of Homeless Link blogs will know that earlier this month, we wrote to the Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment to ask that working with people who have no home is treated as a priority occupation for vaccination, as a matter for urgency. We also asked members to write to their MPs to raise the same issue and many have taken immediate action, including asking their workforce to write to their own MPs.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) has announced £233,000 of funding for frontline organisations to support people sleeping rough in London with accessing immigration advice.

Homeless Link is advocating for roles working with people experiencing homelessness to be treated as a priority occupation for COVID-19 vaccination. Services can help strengthen our call by writing to their local MP.

On 9 September 2021, MHCLG released the latest statutory homelessness statistics, covering the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. The statutory statistics capture data on everyone who has been assessed under the Homelessness Reduction Act, meaning that since 2018 we have been able to see a much more detailed picture of single homelessness.