It's the homeless couch generation

8:30am Friday 18th July 2008

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WHAT does the word homelessness mean to you? For most people, the image of a rough-looking person in a sleeping bag begging for change on the streets springs to mind.

Yet the vast majority of homeless people are actually sleeping on friends or relatives’ couches without a permanent home to call their own.

Now Southend Council has drawn up a three-year homelessness prevention strategy to help these people before they become stuck in B&Bs or slip through the net.

Mark Flewitt, Tory councillor responsible for adult social care, health and housing, said: “It’s called the couch syndrome.

“Because we are all very proud, we don’t want to say ‘guess what, I’m sleeping on a friend’s couch’.

“It’s difficult to get to these people. It really is happening out there and people are entitled to be private about it, but we have a duty to say we will try to help them.”

The strategy will see the council work more closely with organisations such as South Essex Homes, South East Essex Primary Care Trust, Victim Support and landlords, to ensure homeless people get appropriate housing.

It will also target vulnerable young people, who make up 50 per cent of the homeless population in Southend, and who are prone to falling into a life of crime and drug abuse.

Gill Garwood, chief executive of the Homeless Action Resource Project, known as Harp, said her staff had dealt with 900 young people in the past year.

“They are left with nowhere to go and if they aren’t picked up straight away, they are going to end up with the wrong crowd and run wild,” she said. “It’s mainly due to family break-ups. Parents divorce and remarry, and the young person is left out in the cold.

“It’s quite hard for them to get accommodation because a lot of landlords won’t take someone under 25 because they don’t get much housing benefit.”

The Southend-based charity offers these young people emergency accommodation at their night shelter, in York Road, and tries to mediate with families to see them return home.

If this is no longer possible, due to abuse or severe family breakdown, Harp refers these youngsters to the YMCA or Acorn Housing Association, so they can get more permanent lodging. However, this vital service is no longer available to families after Harp had its funding cut last year.

The council missed out on vital Government grants, which meant the charity has had to focus on single people and reduce its staff from 30 to 17.

Mrs Garwood said they had been seeing about 400 families a year before the cuts, and there was a real need for a centre dedicated to the problems they face.

She explained: “The problem we have got is if a family goes to social services the only option is they would accommodate the children, but not the parents. So you’re looking at family break-up. If there was a family centre it would help to sort these issues out.”

Harp is one of the organisations which is now supporting the council’s strategy. The different groups will meet four times a year to monitor the partnership’s progress.

Mrs Garwood said: “From our perspective, we see a lot of homeless people and it’s an opportunity for us to really inform the council about the problems and issues.

“I think there’s a lot of work to be done and I think it’s going to take time.

“But I think the fact the council has invited people on to the team is a good starting point.”

There are now 55 households stuck in temporary accommodation in Southend, with 3,463 live cases on the councils waiting list.

One of the most important elements of the strategy is to identify empty homes, including those owned by private landlords, and get them back into use as soon as possible.

There are an estimated 1,200 empty homes across the borough.

Mr Flewitt said: “I’m excited because it ties in with the work we’re doing about empty property management, encouraging people not to leave empty homes they have as an investment or have inherited.”

See Echo for more stories on this issue: 3,463 cases being dealt with by council The former Iraq soldier who asked for help and was offered a hostel Contact council if you see an empty propery