"There is only one housing crisis. It is not the lack of somewhere nice to live. It is the lack of somewhere to sleep. Rough sleeping is vagrancy, and illegal in England and Wales under the Vagrancy Act. It means the police can move you on. The government promised to develop a new cross-government strategy to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness in its election manifesto, so next spring it is scrapping the 19th-century act."
"Homelessness is soaring. This week, a study from Crisis showed the figure had risen in England by 21% between 2022 and 2024, and by 45% since 2012. It has now reached 300,000 households. The figures for London are the most startling, with street sleeping in Westminster rising by a quarter in the past year alone. A corresponding increase in begging is equally noticeable, outside shops and tube stations and near cashpoints."
Opera-goers found intoxicated, vulnerable people sleeping on the front steps of the London Coliseum and others bedding down nearby. St Martin-in-the-Fields charity experienced heavy demand. The urgent problem is a shortage of places to sleep rather than lack of 'nice' housing. Rough sleeping is defined as vagrancy and will be decriminalised when the government scraps the Vagrancy Act next spring. Crisis reported homelessness rose 21% in England between 2022 and 2024 and 45% since 2012, reaching 300,000 households. Westminster street sleeping rose 25% in a year and begging increased. Causes include substance misuse and failures in welfare, courts, parole and immigration.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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