Big pronouncements

I don't think that we should give up though. I appreciate that a lot of rough sleepers are addicts, but not all - some, particularly single men, have fallen on hard times and if they have no children (and, ironically, no MH problems) go to the bottom of the lists.

Such a man called Storm and Alexis (TV phone in) this morning, and I really felt for him. He has worked since leaving school at 16 (I think he said he is now 41) and has lost his job through redundancy. As he is single, childless and has no 'issues' he's been told h doesn't qualify for help. People like him need help too.

I've never worked in housing, and clearly I don't have the answers, but I am confident that there are those who do, and with the right support we should be able to return to the days when we didn't see people in doorways in cities. We won't eradicate addiction (which is not to say we shouldn't try), but losing a job shouldn't mean people having to sleep on the streets.

The problem with hostels is that bring together a group of people with similar problems and become centres of drug trade.

I have an addicted young relative who, every time he leaves prison is sent to a hostel where things just get worse and he is led back into trouble.

People are not on the street by choice - they are there because of addiction and mental health problems and it is those services that need dealing with.

Cossy

Doodledog

Not easy when you are facing a wall of journalists and photographers, all wanting something to report about you and discuss. If you mutter something about slog and doing your best you risk losing the audience, which can do terminal damage, as we saw with Starmer.

Incidentally, I think that rough sleeping is a good target for day one. It is measurable, so he can point to how successful he's been. It is possible, as we saw during Covid. It will make people feel better about their environment when they aren't walking past people sleeping in doorways on their way to work. I hope he pulls it off of its own sake, but I also think the choice of announcement show more political nous than we've seen for a while.

We managed in Covid because many rough sleepers were placed in B&Bs, not sustainable housing. Simply “housing” them isn’t the answer.

In my part of Essex we have many rough sleepers and good resources, but it’s still not enough.

Almost every week planning is denied for conversions of houses into HMOs to house people. Every week planning is denied for new homes.

Rough sleepers often have many other issues, including addiction. If no services for this are offered m, housing will be lost pretty quickly.

Rough sleepers aren’t the only “homeless”. Many many families are living in substandard and inadequate temporary housing.

Good points. Bringing Covid into it was simplistic. All the same, it shouldn't be impossible to build hostels and flats as a matter of urgency, and people with addiction issues could be referred to the hostels for help before moving into the flats. Even if the tenancies were temporary (say three years) it would give them a chance to get on their feet before finding something on the market.

Meanwhile, a push to build more social housing would help older people and young families who struggle with private renting. As others have said, it would also provide employment, and create more settled communities, which help people to feel part of society. Maybe that's too tall an order, but I am trying very hard to remain positive today.

MT 62 I said the amount of rough sleepers had come down not that they had been eradicated completely. The figures are on BBC verify.

Graphite

I hope we can welcome this premiership with far less negativity than we saw on this platform two years ago.

I posted on the other thread about how I welcomed the promise to end rough sleeping and to build more council homes. Everybody deserves a roof over their head. Do that and all else follows, domestically at least.

I do know that there is money sitting in savings that could be directed towards social projects. Over £800 billion is sitting in ISAs and around £140 billion in Premium Bonds.

If the government were to invite people to put money into a social housing bond paying a moderate return, I’d certainly invest.

Also as I have written about before, there are a million homes in England alone sitting long term empty (Action on Empty Homes) These need to be brought into use.

We can provide an affordable home for everybody.

We need legislation to stop developers hoarding land to deliberately control the supply of new homes and keep prices high.

We need more apprentice schemes for young people to train them in the necessary skills to build and renovate homes.

We need a cap on private rents. I was struck by this young man’s post on another social media platform:

My bank tells me I cannot afford £800 a month to pay a mortgage to buy a flat. But apparently I can afford £1,200 a month to pay my landlord’s mortgage.

This needs to stop.

I think your idea about government bonds, available to ordinary citizens is a very good one Graphite. There is certainly, as you say, plenty of money sitting in savings and premium bonds which could be put into bonds linked to investment in social care care and public infrastructure for example, and readily available to ordinary citizens through retail outlets.
Government Bonds are always a safe home for money, and the government could definitely manage the bond market differently which is at present open mainly to large institutions and speculators.

AGAA4

Andy Burnham has brought down the number of rough sleepers in Manchester. Unfortunately rising again but still not as many as before he became mayor.
I agree on rents. The prices are far too high in the UK. Most young people have no chance of buying and not much better chance of renting.

Burnham has to give people some hope or things will not go well for him.

Really? I didn’t see much evidence last time I went there. That Piccadilly gardens was a disgrace. I’ve told my mum to keep away from that area.

MayBee70

“Rough sleepers often have many other issues, including addiction. If no services for this are offered m, housing will be lost pretty quickly”.
Precisely. I was just about to say the same thing. There’s also the problem of prisoners leaving prison with nowhere to go.

Absolutely, especially those who get those first few weeks in Bail Hostels and zero help from overworked, partially privatised probation services.

MayBee70

You’re so right!

“Rough sleepers often have many other issues, including addiction. If no services for this are offered m, housing will be lost pretty quickly”.
Precisely. I was just about to say the same thing. There’s also the problem of prisoners leaving prison with nowhere to go.

Sorry - I started replying to Graphite's post and got distracted. Things had moved on before I pressed 'send'.

Absolutely. Housing is so important. The rental market is a racket. The idea that landlords 'have to' put up rent when mortgage rates rise is ridiculous. They are basically saying that they want tenants to not only pay their mortgage but absorb the costs of buying their investments, yet have nothing to show for it after years of doing so.

I agree about bringing empty housing into play, too. It is wrong that people are sleeping on the streets when houses are sitting empty for years. I would also like to see higher taxes (maybe council tax, maybe a separate tax) for holiday lets, and limits put on what percentage of houses in an area can be rented out for holidays.

I know people enjoy renting them for holidays (I've done so myself), but they ruin villages that used to house communities, as by definition holiday renters are not part of those communities so the infrastructure dies. I see that a lot in villages around where I live. No GP, no library, no bus service, and even the shops often open one or two days a week out of season, and wall to wall cars parked on every lane in summer.

Maybe we could look at building holiday villages, with houses that have never been in communities, so holiday lets are not taking away from village life? That would mean that people would still have somewhere to go, and UK tourism wouldn't suffer.

Luckygirl3

Is it just me or would anyone else like to see a new PM stand up and eschew big pronouncements about turning points, new direction, changing the face of Britain etc etc and simply say he/she has got x,y, z priorities, th at they know it is going to be a hell of a slog, but that they are going to do their best?
Thst is the truth... we all know it. Silly sweeping promises are just plain silly.

Starmer said it wasn’t going to be an easy road ahead but was lambasted for being all gloom and doom. And that it would take ten years…

Andy Burnham has brought down the number of rough sleepers in Manchester. Unfortunately rising again but still not as many as before he became mayor.
I agree on rents. The prices are far too high in the UK. Most young people have no chance of buying and not much better chance of renting.

Burnham has to give people some hope or things will not go well for him.

I’ve never voted Labour in my life. But, I thought Burnham spoke well and let’s give him a chance. Rough sleepers is an unusual choice to focus on in his first speech. I thought his wife looked uneasy and anxious. Who could blame her.

Doodledog

Not easy when you are facing a wall of journalists and photographers, all wanting something to report about you and discuss. If you mutter something about slog and doing your best you risk losing the audience, which can do terminal damage, as we saw with Starmer.

Incidentally, I think that rough sleeping is a good target for day one. It is measurable, so he can point to how successful he's been. It is possible, as we saw during Covid. It will make people feel better about their environment when they aren't walking past people sleeping in doorways on their way to work. I hope he pulls it off of its own sake, but I also think the choice of announcement show more political nous than we've seen for a while.

We managed in Covid because many rough sleepers were placed in B&Bs, not sustainable housing. Simply “housing” them isn’t the answer.

In my part of Essex we have many rough sleepers and good resources, but it’s still not enough.

Almost every week planning is denied for conversions of houses into HMOs to house people. Every week planning is denied for new homes.

Rough sleepers often have many other issues, including addiction. If no services for this are offered m, housing will be lost pretty quickly.

Rough sleepers aren’t the only “homeless”. Many many families are living in substandard and inadequate temporary housing.

I hope we can welcome this premiership with far less negativity than we saw on this platform two years ago.

I posted on the other thread about how I welcomed the promise to end rough sleeping and to build more council homes. Everybody deserves a roof over their head. Do that and all else follows, domestically at least.

I do know that there is money sitting in savings that could be directed towards social projects. Over £800 billion is sitting in ISAs and around £140 billion in Premium Bonds.

If the government were to invite people to put money into a social housing bond paying a moderate return, I’d certainly invest.

Also as I have written about before, there are a million homes in England alone sitting long term empty (Action on Empty Homes) These need to be brought into use.

We can provide an affordable home for everybody.

We need legislation to stop developers hoarding land to deliberately control the supply of new homes and keep prices high.

We need more apprentice schemes for young people to train them in the necessary skills to build and renovate homes.

We need a cap on private rents. I was struck by this young man’s post on another social media platform:

My bank tells me I cannot afford £800 a month to pay a mortgage to buy a flat. But apparently I can afford £1,200 a month to pay my landlord’s mortgage.

This needs to stop.

Not easy when you are facing a wall of journalists and photographers, all wanting something to report about you and discuss. If you mutter something about slog and doing your best you risk losing the audience, which can do terminal damage, as we saw with Starmer.

Incidentally, I think that rough sleeping is a good target for day one. It is measurable, so he can point to how successful he's been. It is possible, as we saw during Covid. It will make people feel better about their environment when they aren't walking past people sleeping in doorways on their way to work. I hope he pulls it off of its own sake, but I also think the choice of announcement show more political nous than we've seen for a while.

They all do it, don’t they ? I just cynically laugh.