Entries by Jamie Leeming

Renters Risk Homelessness During Pandemic

Tenants who asked their billionaire landlord for a rent reduction during the coronavirus pandemic were told to use the money they would have spent on lunches and holidays to pay the full amount due. More than 100 residents living in a block in Somerford Grove, east London, signed a letter addressed to their management estate […]

Getting Rough Sleepers Off The Streets Of Liverpool

Just over three weeks ago Liverpool’s homeless and rough sleepers were moved into accommodation to help reduce the spread of coronavirus. The measures saw Liverpool City Council’s rough sleeper shelter Labre House shut its doors, with people who were previously sharing communal spaces and bathrooms transferred to places with separate facilities, including into apart-hotels, in […]

Coronavirus Could ‘Change The Landscape’ For Homelessness

Giving rough sleepers rooms in hotels should lead to a significant long-term reduction in rough sleeping after the coronavirus outbreak, says a charity for homeless people. Around 2,000 people have been brought in off the streets in England and put into Travelodges and budget hotels, reports BBC News. St Mungo’s charity says it is an […]

How you can help someone sleeping rough 

Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, Homeless Link, StreetLink and other partners have been contacted by many people asking how they can help those within their communities who are homeless or sleeping rough. New initiatives are in place to help protect vulnerable people and, on Friday 27 March, the Government wrote to local authorities to ask them to house all rough sleepers by the end of […]

All But One Rough Sleeper Left On The Streets

Wirral Council said they have re-housed 60 homeless people living on the streets, or in shelters, to protect them from the continuing spread of Coronavirus. With support from three homeless shelters and Forum Housing, they say they have found accommodation for more than 35 hostel residents and dozens of rough sleepers over the past two […]

Emotional Resilience And Self-Care Support For Frontline Workers

Supporting the homeless and rough sleepers has not suddenly become stressful due to the spread of Covid-19, but the virus has added another level of urgency and strain on an already overburdened system. A survey conducted by Community Care at the start of March, found more than 70% of children’s social workers struggling with their […]

Government ‘Must Do More’ To Help House The Homeless

Homelessness charities have written to the government urging the removal of the remaining barriers preventing people who are homeless from getting access to the self-contained accommodation they need. Crisis, Homeless Link, and The Passage say too many people remain on the street or stuck in hostels and night shelters, according to 24Housing. Ten days ago, […]

Rough Sleepers Flock To Heathrow Airport

Up to 200 rough sleepers are reportedly using Heathrow Airport as a refuge during the coronavirus lockdown. Airport bosses did not comment on the numbers involved, but said they were working with agencies to find alternatives for people. Paul Atherton who regularly stays at Terminal Five said he had noticed many more rough sleepers, reports the […]

And Now For Some Good News…

A New York landlord has waived April’s rent for every tenant in all of his 80 properties. Mario Salerno posted a notice on the front doors of all of his buildings, telling around 200 tenants that they didn’t have to worry about paying this month’s rent. The 59-year-old said he wants people to concentrate on taking […]

COVID-19: Radical Action To House Rough Sleepers

The government has written to local authorities in England asking them to house all people sleeping rough, and those in hostels and night shelters, by this weekend (29th March). In a letter sent to homelessness managers and rough-sleeping coordinators in every local authority, 24Housing reports that the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government said: […]