About Homelessness

Individuals can be homeless for a variety of reasons and often the cause is a number of factors combined.

There are undoubtedly social causes, such as a lack of secure, affordable housing and poverty, but issues such as poor mental or physical health, relationship breakdown, substance misuse and loss of a job can play a major role.

The three main reasons given by homeless people for losing their previous place of residence (gov.uk) were:

• Parents, friends or relatives unwilling or unable to continue to accommodate them
• Relationship breakdown, including domestic violence
• Loss of an assured shorthold tenancy

Homelessness is devastating, dangerous and isolating.

The average age of death for people experiencing homelessness is 46 for men and 42 for women.

People sleeping on the street are almost 17 times more likely to have been victims of violence. More than one in three people sleeping rough have been deliberately hit or kicked or experienced some other form of violence whilst homeless.

Homeless people are over nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population.

The annual rough sleeping snapshot provides the government’s estimate for how many people were rough sleeping on a given night in Autumn 2023. It shows:

• 3,898 people were sleeping rough across England, an increase of 27% on the previous year.  This is the second year in a row that the government has reported an increase in rough sleeping and the sharpest rise over a 12-month period since 2015.  These figures further confirm that the Westminster government will fail to meet its commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024.
• The number of people sleeping rough is now 61% higher than it was ten years ago and 120% higher than when data collection began in 2010.
• The figures also show that street homelessness is rising among women with 568 seen to be rough sleeping last autumn, up from 464 – a rise of 22%. UK nationals remain the biggest proportion of people found to be sleeping rough (62%).
• Due to the way the rough sleeping count is conducted these figures are likely to be an underestimate as people sleeping in hidden locations, such as on public transport, are likely to be missed.

Locally in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

• Government figures showed 64 people were sleeping rough in the BCP area in autumn 2022.
• The figure is the third highest in the UK, behind only Camden and Westminster.
• It was also more than double the previous year’s figure.
• Housing charity Shelter’s research shows the number of homeless people across England rose by 14 per cent in the last year.
• The figures show 1,342 people are estimated to be homeless in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole this year.
• Of these, 1,270 live in temporary accommodation – organised by social services, the council or themselves – including 535 children.
• Meanwhile, 72 of the total homeless population are sleeping rough.

See BBC news article by Daisy Stephens & Tristan Pascoe 27 November 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp4pvpxe8dxo