Homeless peoples rights?

[justasking]

Hi, my friend has been homeless for a while but staying with friends, now the hospitality has run out and she has no where to go. I can't help her because i just about have a roof over my head as it is. she went to a homeless persons unit and was turned away because she is neither pregnant or seeking asylum so they see this as not being vunerable. Surely being on the streets should count as being vunerable? I was told that if she goes back to the homeless unit and stays there all day they cannot turn her away. Is this true by law?

[smurfchops]

Well at least your friend is not pregnant, that makes a change. Could i make a suggestion, it might be silly of me to think this way and it might be a bit naive of me to ask this - but could she possibly - ahem ... GET A JOB rather than relying on other people to help her out?? Or am I being un-PC?

[homerthegrea]

Sorry for your friend but it is not true, in this country once over the local council had a duty of care to find somebody a place to live, this is not the case now. Your friend needs to go to the council and be placed on the housing list, in the meantime she needs to ask for a list of private rent or B&B's the council will pay a proportion of the rent upto a set ammount (i think it's about �75 a week) i know it's not great but at least she will have somewhere to stay until she gets a bit further up the housing list and can move into her own flat.

[justasking]

Getting a job may sound easy to you but it isn't and when you have no address getting a job is even harder.

[Ethel]

What town/city is your friend in?

[Ethel]

As to your question - it is completely untrue.

Homeless units are subject to health and safety procedures and part of this will be the maximum number of people they can accommodate at any one time.

If they have not got room - they have not got room.

[naz_nomad]

Amazing really how this country looks after the people that don't contribute, and dumps on the people that do ...

[shaneystar2]

Some people find themselves in this situation through no fault of their own.Others want to live rough .
We shouldn't criticise ..there but for the grace of God etc.
Has your friend tried the Salvation Army ? Even if they can't take her in they can advise. Also the local council may have B&B accomodation.
As for getting a job ..homeless people find this extremely difficult with no permanent address ..a live in job would be the ideal situation.
Have a look at the Shelter website
http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-13 5.cfm

[janetsflower]

I am seeing both sides here and what has been said before is correct and unfortunately if she is not pregnant nor a parent she won't be very high up the priority list and so finding a place will be difficult as will getting a job without an address. Maybe she should have put more effort in whilst staying with her friends to find a job or maybe she did try, who are we to judge . I unfortunately have s step daughter who countless times we have helped to find places, paid deposits/rent etc but she won't work or pay her rent and consequently keeps losing them. There comes a time when people have to sort their own lives out instead of expecting the help from friends and family and so your friend will be best advised to try places like shelter/samaritains/citizens advice bureau etc. Most towns have hostels where homeless women can spend their nights and so that might be her only option

[lady_p_gold]

The only other thing that comes to mind is getting a job in a hotel where you live in and then your friend might be able to start rebuilding a life and then maybe start renting eventually.

[mormess]

Hi, I used to be a Homelessness researcher for Cardiff Council. Depends what you mean by "unit" - I'd have said the local council have a duty of care to house anyone who presents themselves as homeless. It's only when they're "intentionally homeless" i.e. not paid rent on a council house for instance that the Council put them further down the list. In Cardiff there are several hostels but they're pretty harsh environments. There's something like a "6 week rule" - if they can get someone out of the system within that time, they'll be ok, but if not, they get institutionalised and it's harder to get out. I'd say your friend wants to avoid this path at all costs.

I'd say as a woman she is vulnerable, but as has been said before, if there's no room, there's no room. Rough sleeping tends to increase in the summer but in winter, in Cardiff at least, we have a bad weather hostel which is extra provision. A City Centre Team checks on all the rough sleepers in the city and does a soup run and breakfast run.

When she was staying with friends, your friend would have been classed as "hidden homeless". This is a problem that is being addressed, but as there are more urgent cases it always gets pushed down the list.

There might also be a bond board in your town which helps people put down a bond on a flat. The council should be able to tell your friend all this info.

I haven't heard anything about having to stay at the unit all day before they do something though. More likely they were overwhelmed with cases and tried the most plausible excuse to get rid of her.