On homelessness

I am/about to become homeless/I know somebody who is in danger of becoming homeless. Can you help?

We recommend that you contact the following organisations:

National

At Shelter housing advisors answer the helpline from 8 am until 12 midnight 365 days a year, and help find emergency accommodation if you are 16 or older. The freephone number is 0808 800 4444. Alternatively go to Shelter’s website, or to the local shelter advice services.
Centrepoint; they help to house young people 16-25 who are homeless. They provide long and short-term hostels and manage bedsit services.
Citizens Advice Bureau : the online Citizens’ Advice Bureau provides independent advice on your rights, including benefits, housing, employment, as well as details of reliable sources of advice.

Local

Your Local Authority housing department or council, your local Citizens Advice Bureau or your local library. They will hold a list of local agencies working in your area.
Crisis runs some services in partnership with some agencies across the UK: Crisis' SmartMove partners provide homeless and vulnerably-housed people comprehensive housing advice and access to accommodation in the private rented sector. Our local staff might be able to help although SmartMove won't provide an immediate solution. There are currently 27 Crisis SmartMove schemes around the country. For more information about the programme, visit the Crisis SmartMove pages on our website.

London only

www.homelesslondon.org. This website has been set up for people who are homeless in London.
St Mungo's; this organisation runs hostels, day centres and outreach in London. Their number is 020 8740 9968.
Thames Reach Bondway; do outreach and resettlement for street homeless people. Their number is 020 7702 4260. If you are sleeping rough in central London please call their outreach team on 020 7881 9250. If you are sleeping rough in outer London boroughs please call their London Street Rescue service on 0870 383 3333. If you visit London Street Rescue's website, you'll find a London map divided into boroughs. If you hover your cursor over the map, it tells you which numbers you should ring in each borough.
If you are under 26 years of age, go to London Connection, 12 Adelaide Street, London WC2N 4HW www.london-connection.org.uk Tel: 020 7766 5550.

Other organisations

(which may help with personal crises not relating to homelessness)

Samaritans. Tel: 08457 90 90 90
Women's Aid, a 24-hour helpline for women. Tel: 0990 995 443.

I would like some information about homelessness

You may like to read the Policy and Research section of the website. It will give you information about homelessness, including definitions, statistics on numbers, profile, needs, relevant government polices etc.
You might also like to go to our Research Bank. You will find research reports on issues such as homelessness and health, women, learning & skills, drink and drugs etc and a selection of documents free to download.

I would like some information on specific questions about homelessness

Numbers of homeless people

Go to the Homeless Statistics and Factfile section of the website; you will find a document that gives a range of statistics about homelessness (numbers, profile, problems they face etc).

For figures on rough sleepers

Go to the Department for Communities and Local Government's (DCLG) website; the DCLG publishes figures from some street counts and the official estimates of numbers of rough sleepers.

They also publish more figures on homelessness in quarterly bulletins.

For London figures, see the Homelessness Bulletin published by the GLA at www.london.gov.uk Broadway London also publishes a quarterly review of all rough sleepers in London who have been contacted by outreach teams which can be seen at: www.homelessnessact.org.uk for more information. Information and summaries of all legislation and policies relevant to homelessness will soon be available at: About Homelessness

For information on legislation for Scotland, go to the Scottish Executive's website at www.scotland.gov.uk.

for information on policies and strategies specific to Wales, go to the
Welsh Assembly housing site.

What is the government doing to help homeless people?

The government currently has a National Homelessness Directorate which comes under overall responsibility of John Prescott in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. In 2002 they published More than a Roof outlining how they will take government policy forwards. Read More than a Roof. online.

The government has also established the Bed & Breakfast Unit as part of the National Homelessness Directorate. On 4 May 2004 the government announced a 99.3% reduction from original estimates of 4,000 to just 26 homeless families with children in B&B long-term. For more information.

Gay and lesbian homelessness

Not much is known about this area. You may like to go to www.stonewall.org.uk for a range of resources on homelessness and multiple discrimination based on sexual orientation.