Sofa Surfing
To quantify homelessness, it is first necessary to define what it is that is being counted. Whilst people sleeping on the streets are more visibly homeless, there are a variety of precarious, insecure or unsatisfactory living conditions often termed “hidden homelessness”
To quantify homelessness, it is first necessary to define what it is that is being counted. Whilst people sleeping on the streets are more visibly homeless, there are a variety of precarious, insecure or unsatisfactory living conditions often termed “hidden homelessness”
A report by BBC News in December 2017 on the UK noted that:
Ursula Patten, operations director at The Key (drop-in centre for young homeless people in Leyland), says sofa surfers should definitely be considered homeless. "You are homeless if you haven't got a place you can stay on a consistent basis - somewhere that you can call home." She says about 70% of the homeless young people on the charity's books have sofa-surfed before running out of options and seeking help.
Centrepoint chief executive Seyi Obakin said: "Goodwill is the only thing keeping too many young people from sleeping on the UK's streets. It's frightening just how many are trapped in a cycle that is detrimental to their health, sees them struggle to keep up in education, and where outstaying their welcome can mean becoming exposed to dangers no-one should have to face."
Estimating the scale of youth homelessness in the UK
How does one quantify the data?
How do you go about allocating resources to solve a problem when you don’t know the scale of it? That’s the reality facing any charity, government or local authority who wishes to tackle youth homelessness.
The report “Estimating the scale of youth homelessness in the UK” by Anna Clarke, Gemma Burgess, Sam Morris and Chihiro Udagawa of the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning looked at this problem.
The report notes:
Centrepoint commissioned Cambridge University to calculate an estimate of the true scale of youth homelessness. As part of this, we sought to understand the extent of all forms of youth homelessness, including the numbers of young people in hostels or supported accommodation services, and more hidden forms of homelessness such as sofa surfing, where young people move between different friends’ and family members’ sofas because they have nowhere else to go.
To assess levels of hidden homelessness among the wider population of young population not in contact with homelessness services, a UK-wide survey was carried out with young people aged 16-25. This found much higher numbers of young people who reported having slept rough than are known to have done so from published data:
Overall, 26 % of young people said they had ever slept rough or in unsafe such as cars, nightbusses or on the streets because they had nowhere else to go: 17% had slept rough (including unsafe places such as in cars) during the last year, with 10% having done so for more for than one night. 20% had sofa surfed during the last year, with 16% having done so for more than a week, and 4% for over three months.
Of those who had slept rough the most common location was in a car (55%), followed by in a tent (34%), on the streets (18%), in a car park (16%) or in a park or other open space (15%).
The report concludes by estimating that in 2013-2014, around 1.3 million young people aged 16-24 had slept rough or in an unsafe place, and just under 300,000 had doing so on any one night.
What emerged from the survey was that the main reasons for young people sofa surfing related to negative home environments or having been asked to leave by their parents.
Ursula Patten, operations director at The Key (drop-in centre for young homeless people in Leyland), says sofa surfers should definitely be considered homeless. "You are homeless if you haven't got a place you can stay on a consistent basis - somewhere that you can call home." She says about 70% of the homeless young people on the charity's books have sofa-surfed before running out of options and seeking help.
Centrepoint chief executive Seyi Obakin said: "Goodwill is the only thing keeping too many young people from sleeping on the UK's streets. It's frightening just how many are trapped in a cycle that is detrimental to their health, sees them struggle to keep up in education, and where outstaying their welcome can mean becoming exposed to dangers no-one should have to face."
Estimating the scale of youth homelessness in the UK
How does one quantify the data?
How do you go about allocating resources to solve a problem when you don’t know the scale of it? That’s the reality facing any charity, government or local authority who wishes to tackle youth homelessness.
The report “Estimating the scale of youth homelessness in the UK” by Anna Clarke, Gemma Burgess, Sam Morris and Chihiro Udagawa of the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning looked at this problem.
The report notes:
Centrepoint commissioned Cambridge University to calculate an estimate of the true scale of youth homelessness. As part of this, we sought to understand the extent of all forms of youth homelessness, including the numbers of young people in hostels or supported accommodation services, and more hidden forms of homelessness such as sofa surfing, where young people move between different friends’ and family members’ sofas because they have nowhere else to go.
To assess levels of hidden homelessness among the wider population of young population not in contact with homelessness services, a UK-wide survey was carried out with young people aged 16-25. This found much higher numbers of young people who reported having slept rough than are known to have done so from published data:
Overall, 26 % of young people said they had ever slept rough or in unsafe such as cars, nightbusses or on the streets because they had nowhere else to go: 17% had slept rough (including unsafe places such as in cars) during the last year, with 10% having done so for more for than one night. 20% had sofa surfed during the last year, with 16% having done so for more than a week, and 4% for over three months.
Of those who had slept rough the most common location was in a car (55%), followed by in a tent (34%), on the streets (18%), in a car park (16%) or in a park or other open space (15%).
The report concludes by estimating that in 2013-2014, around 1.3 million young people aged 16-24 had slept rough or in an unsafe place, and just under 300,000 had doing so on any one night.
What emerged from the survey was that the main reasons for young people sofa surfing related to negative home environments or having been asked to leave by their parents.
However there were also substantial numbers also indicating that they had sofa surfed after a period of living independently, and were made homeless by a tenancy ending, splitting from a partner or no longer being able to stay with friends or extended family. Overcrowding was a reason in eight percent of cases.
We can take it pretty much for granted that the same kinds of reasons apply in Jersey.
Lack of Data in Jersey
There has been no comparable survey with Jersey, and recent Freedom of Information requests have elicited the response that no statistics are kept, except for numbers at the Shelter, a response given in 2015, and simply pointed to in a 2017 request. It was a very poor reply, because the Women's Refuge also is likely to have numbers of temporary homeless women, while Sanctuary House has the same in respect of homeless men. It is pretty poor that the FOI reply did not look at those.
But any estimates of sofa surfing have to be based on other means, especially as no surveys have been commissioned.
If we assume that with the UK demographic, that large scale data will smooth out any large local deviations to give an average, we can perhaps make a start. If we take the Cambridge percentages as a baseline, then we would have:4% as long term sofa surfing.
Looking at just men (who tend to sofa surf more than women) and the census data for 20-29, we have a total of 6,357, giving at 4% around 254 young men who don’t have a permanent bed for the night and depend on the hospitality of friends for at least three months.
Now the Cambridge Survey was based on an age demographic of 16-24, so this loses some numbers from the start, and adds some to the end. It is by no means perfect, but it gives some idea of the scale of the problem.
Lack of Data in Jersey
There has been no comparable survey with Jersey, and recent Freedom of Information requests have elicited the response that no statistics are kept, except for numbers at the Shelter, a response given in 2015, and simply pointed to in a 2017 request. It was a very poor reply, because the Women's Refuge also is likely to have numbers of temporary homeless women, while Sanctuary House has the same in respect of homeless men. It is pretty poor that the FOI reply did not look at those.
But any estimates of sofa surfing have to be based on other means, especially as no surveys have been commissioned.
If we assume that with the UK demographic, that large scale data will smooth out any large local deviations to give an average, we can perhaps make a start. If we take the Cambridge percentages as a baseline, then we would have:4% as long term sofa surfing.
Looking at just men (who tend to sofa surf more than women) and the census data for 20-29, we have a total of 6,357, giving at 4% around 254 young men who don’t have a permanent bed for the night and depend on the hospitality of friends for at least three months.
Now the Cambridge Survey was based on an age demographic of 16-24, so this loses some numbers from the start, and adds some to the end. It is by no means perfect, but it gives some idea of the scale of the problem.
I suspect personally that the figures may well be higher locally, but I would think that such a cautious estimation must at least supply a minimum figure, especially as anecdotal evidence includes higher age ranges, and I have not factored in women.
Guernsey: Better Statistics?
The report “Guernsey Indicators of Poverty Report 2015” was not issued until1st February 2017. Guernsey seem to have been more proactive in trying to see the extend of poverty within the Island. It looks as such matters as:
It notes that:
“Homelessness is used as an indicator in the UK, but the level in Guernsey is challenging to quantify. The organisations dedicated to providing temporary housing or shelter keep records of numbers but there are many reasons why people seek temporary housing and not all are due to homelessness. As such, this indicator is not included in this report, but attempts will be made to develop a method appropriate to Guernsey for monitoring levels of homelessness, perhaps including an estimation of the number of people with no permanent residence who may “sofa-surf” for future editions.”
Another report, “Social Housing Allocations and Eligibility Policy”, published in March 2017 looks at different banding for poverty and housing, and sets out a policy which defines a single point of access for social housing, a single set of eligibility criteria and a single waiting list based on an agreed method of prioritisation.
Under Homeless, they have
Now Andium does also have banding for criteria, and it has homeless under band 1, but it does not have any detailed breakdown which includes sofa surfing in quite the same way that Guernsey does,.
But better reporting may be on the way. Sam Mezec, the Minister for Housing, speaking at a Scrutiny Hearing in October 2018 said:
"We have also decided that we will not just be looking at those who are at risk of sleeping on the street but also those who have accommodation that is so insecure that they do fulfil a definition of homelessness as well; if people are sofa surfing, for example, and do not have secure accommodation. I want the States of Jersey to have a decent homelessness strategy and we are in the early stages of getting stakeholders around a table to work out what exactly we have got to do to fulfil that. "
References
https://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=115139&p=0
https://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=105802&p=0
https://www.gov.je/Home/RentingBuying/ApplicationAllocation/Pages/HowToApply.aspx#anchor-2
https://statesassembly.gov.je/assemblystatements/2011/chairman%20of%20hss%20h%20scrutiny%20panel%20re%20review%20of%20benefits.pdf
https://www.cchpr.landecon.cam.ac.uk/news/Estimating-scale-youth-homelessness-UK
Guernsey: Better Statistics?
The report “Guernsey Indicators of Poverty Report 2015” was not issued until1st February 2017. Guernsey seem to have been more proactive in trying to see the extend of poverty within the Island. It looks as such matters as:
- Household overcrowding as percentage of households
- Affordability: annual rent to earnings ratio
- Affordability: purchase price to earnings ratio
- Affordability: percentage of population in affordable housing (rented from the States or GHA)
- Affordability: percentage of households receiving assistance with social housing rent payments
It notes that:
“Homelessness is used as an indicator in the UK, but the level in Guernsey is challenging to quantify. The organisations dedicated to providing temporary housing or shelter keep records of numbers but there are many reasons why people seek temporary housing and not all are due to homelessness. As such, this indicator is not included in this report, but attempts will be made to develop a method appropriate to Guernsey for monitoring levels of homelessness, perhaps including an estimation of the number of people with no permanent residence who may “sofa-surf” for future editions.”
Another report, “Social Housing Allocations and Eligibility Policy”, published in March 2017 looks at different banding for poverty and housing, and sets out a policy which defines a single point of access for social housing, a single set of eligibility criteria and a single waiting list based on an agreed method of prioritisation.
Under Homeless, they have
- Applicant living in St Julian’s House, the Women’s Refuge, or Sarnia Housing accommodation. Anybody in this category should engage with the relevant identified services as required.
- Applicant is of no fixed address and is reliant on the goodwill of friends and family for somewhere to live – do not have a bed of their own. Sofa surfing is distinct from living with friends or relatives (Band Applicants in this category are frequently having to change address.
- Applicant has no option but to sleep on the streets, a tent, car, or boat unless social housing is provided. Applicants in the ‘homeless’ group should be put in contact with providers of crisis accommodation in the first instance.
Now Andium does also have banding for criteria, and it has homeless under band 1, but it does not have any detailed breakdown which includes sofa surfing in quite the same way that Guernsey does,.
But better reporting may be on the way. Sam Mezec, the Minister for Housing, speaking at a Scrutiny Hearing in October 2018 said:
"We have also decided that we will not just be looking at those who are at risk of sleeping on the street but also those who have accommodation that is so insecure that they do fulfil a definition of homelessness as well; if people are sofa surfing, for example, and do not have secure accommodation. I want the States of Jersey to have a decent homelessness strategy and we are in the early stages of getting stakeholders around a table to work out what exactly we have got to do to fulfil that. "
References
https://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=115139&p=0
https://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=105802&p=0
https://www.gov.je/Home/RentingBuying/ApplicationAllocation/Pages/HowToApply.aspx#anchor-2
https://statesassembly.gov.je/assemblystatements/2011/chairman%20of%20hss%20h%20scrutiny%20panel%20re%20review%20of%20benefits.pdf
https://www.cchpr.landecon.cam.ac.uk/news/Estimating-scale-youth-homelessness-UK
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