HIDDEN HOMELESSNESS

"Hidden homeless people" is shorthand for those people who:

• meet the legal definition of homelessness : either there is no accommodation they are entitled to occupy or it is not reasonable for people to continue to occupy their accommodation; and
• have not been provided with accommodation by their local authority, either because they have not applied to be classified as homeless or because they have applied and been judged to be 'not in priority' need.

Which groups are included as 'hidden homeless people'?

Groups of people who arguably fit one or both of the criteria above include:

• Rough Sleepers
• Bed and Breakfast etc: People living in bed-and-breakfast or other temporary boarded accommodation because they have no other option. Note that the ‘no other option' restriction is important as people who choose to live in temporary accommodation (e.g. because they are in the process of moving from one part of the country to another) when they could afford to rent clearly do not fulfill either of the homeless criteria.
• Hostels , Night Shelters and Refuges: People living in hostels or equivalent accomodation are usually only living in the hostels etc because they have nowhere else to live. Among researchers in the field, it is generally accepted that temporary hostel residents fit the criteria above, with some taking the view that permanent residents also meet the criteria.
• People due for discharge from institutions: E.g. prison, hospital, etc, and who have no accommodation to go to.
• Overcrowding in Concealed Households: People who are staying with friends or family because they have no other option and where the housing is overcrowded. There is clearly cause for concern about someone sleeping on a friend's or relative's sofa because they have nowhere else to live. Where adults are living in accommodation where they are not the owner or the renter of the accommodation (nor the partner) and where at least one of the adults does not have their own bedroom they arguably meet both criteria. They have no formal entitlement to occupy and thus are dependent on the goodwill of the owner or renter and the accommodation is overcrowded and thus it is arguably unreasonable for them to have to live there.
• Owner dissatisfaction in concealed households: People who are staying with friends or family because they have no other option and where the friends or family are dissatisfied with the arrangement. Such people have no formal entitlement to occupy and thus are dependent on the goodwill of the owner or renter, something which is clearly in doubt given the owner's/renter's dissatisfaction with the current arrangements.
• Risk of eviction: Those at imminent risk of losing their tenancy are explicitly identified in the legislation as a group who fall without the legal criteria. Those who are about to lose their tenancy in the private rented sector and have nowhere else to live are in similar circumstances.
• Involuntary Squatting: People who are squatting because they have no other option have no legal rights to stay in their accommodation and it can therefore be described as insecure. Only those who are squatting because they have no alternative should be included as people who are squatting voluntarily are doing so out of choice.
• People who are living in severe overcrowding. If the overcrowding is sufficiently severe then the accommodation is clearly inadequate.

How many hidden homeless people are there?

The table below provides estimates of the numbers of adults in Great Britain at any point in time in each of these groups. Of the 800,000 people across the various groups, Crisis estimates that around 400,000 can be considered to be 'hidden homeless'.

End notes

[1] The proportion of each group who are assumed to be hidden homeless people comes from How many, how much? Single homelessness and the question of numbers and cost, Crisis, 2003. Back to text

Page last modified on 03/10/2008 at 13:27