‘I Chose To Be Homeless – And It’s The Best Thing I’ve Ever Done’

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Mike Cooney said he has “never felt so free” but knows he must “go back to the real world one day”, reports the Liverpool Echo.

A chef who was forced into homelessness after being told he could no longer keep his dogs in staff accommodation has embarked on a 500-mile journey. Mike Cooney, 44, originally from Manchester, was working at a holiday resort in Cornwall and living onsite with his dogs for around eight months before a change in management led to a sudden rule change banning pets. He said he was given just two weeks to find alternative arrangements. Faced with the prospect of losing his pets, Mike said he chose to walk away from his job and accommodation instead. He is now 54 days into a journey he hopes will eventually take him from Cornwall to Scotland, covering around 500 miles. Despite his situation, Mike said the journey has been transformative.

Speaking to the Echo, Mike said: “Choosing my dogs was quite easy. But the whole process of what I was going to do if I was made homeless and sleeping on the streets was quite daunting. I thought, I’ve always wanted to go and see the orcas, so I just did it.” After contacting Cornwall Council, Mike said he was told he would likely be without accommodation for at least three months. Now officially homeless, he decided to “turn a setback into an opportunity” and set off on foot. He said: “In theory, I have nowhere to go. All my stuff is in storage in Cornwall. If I went back, I’d still be in the same boat, waiting for accommodation. My time was running out. I was watching people online doing these crazy hikes and I thought I’d give it a go. I didn’t know what to expect when I started the walk but I didn’t know it was going to be this amazing. The walk has been incredible, I’ve had the best 54 days of my life. I’ve never felt so free; it feels like an adventure even though I’m homeless. I’ve met so many generous people.”

Mike is walking with his dog Willow, a German Shepherd Chow Chow cross, who has been fully supported along the route through donations linked to animal welfare charity StreetVet. The organisation, which provides veterinary care, food and support for the pets of people experiencing homelessness, has also kept in regular contact throughout his journey and have been “crucial”. Mike has also been documenting his journey on social media, where followers have helped support him with care packages delivered to InPost lockers, along with occasional hotel stays and food donations. He said: “The hospitality and generosity of the people has humbled me, it really has. We stop in pubs for water and to charge my phone, and they often feed us and send us on our way. Costa Coffee has also been incredible.”

Mike recently spent two nights in Liverpool, describing the city as one of the highlights of his journey: “Liverpool is the cleanest city I’ve ever been to. I’m from Manchester and there’s rubbish all over the street. But Liverpool is neat and tidy; it felt like a happy place to be and it was one of the places I was looking forward to the most. It’s an incredible city.” Speaking on some of the challenges homeless people face, Mike said: “You get judged a lot. Even though I’m on a hike, and I’ve got signs all over my backpack, I still look homeless when I’m walking. You get some people asking if you need anything, and then others who give you the weirdest looks and ask you to move on.”

Mike was also travelling with a second dog, Bella, a Shih Tzu, who is currently staying with a friend due to the difficulty of the journey. Looking ahead, Mike says he is focusing on the present rather than planning too far ahead. He said: “I’m living in the present at the moment. I know I can’t live this life forever and I know I have to go back to the real world one day. But if my socials blow up, we could turn it into a massive adventure and travel the world.”

Ministers Must Take Responsibility For Action On Homelessness

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Every branch of government must step up and take responsibility for ending the ongoing crisis in homelessness and rough sleeping, reports Housing Digital.

The call was made in response to the latest statutory statistics, which added fuel to demands that the government crack on and implement its national plan to end homelessness. According to the latest figures for England, covering October to December 2025, 134,210 households were languishing in temporary accommodation, a rise of 5% from the same period for the previous year. This includes 176,130 children living in temporary accommodation. The number of households with children increased 5.9% from 31 December 2024 to 85,800 households in these latest figures.

Other key finding include:

  • 42,640 households were found to be homeless and owed a homelessness relief duty, a decrease of 2.3% from the same quarter last year
  • 33,630 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness, and owed a prevention duty, a decrease of 3.1% from the same quarter in the previous year

Rick Henderson, chief executive at Homeless Link, said: “The numbers of families and children who are still facing homelessness, trapped in unsuitable and health-threatening temporary accommodation, doesn’t bear thinking about. We have warned the government countless times about the need to transform the system to prioritise prevention and break the cycle of homelessness. We need to see the national Plan to End Homelessness put into action, with local authorities rising to the challenge using the new responsibilities and opportunities given to them. It is also critical that all government departments are made to take responsibility for ensuring their policies do not unintentionally push people into homelessness. The social security system and proposed Home Office immigration policies are of particular concern and must be addressed urgently if we are to end homelessness for good.”

There was some more positive news when it came to London, as revealed in the latest CHAIN report covering January to March 2026. This showed that the number of people sleeping rough in the capital had fallen 11% annually to 3,944. Responding to these figures, Henderson added: “It is encouraging to see a fall in the number of people being forced to sleep on the streets in the capital. The Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Plan of Action and exemplary local services have likely played a role in this change. However, numbers of people sleeping rough remain extremely high. Years of stagnant funding and real-term cuts have pushed vital homelessness services to breaking point. This is leaving many people without critical support and exposing them to the trauma of sleeping rough. It is essential that the government supports the Mayor’s plan, protecting services by ensuring they have the necessary funding to keep their doors open, providing a lifeline for vulnerable people.”

Stephanie Morphew, policy lead at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), added further comment on the national statistics, in light of the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force today. “As rights strengthen in the private rented sector and prevention activities at councils strengthen, a plateau in new duties owed might be on the horizon,” she said. “This is welcome, but without an at-scale plan to decant households from temporary accommodation to stable affordable-housing – we risk parking households in expensive and unsuitable temporary accommodation. In the short term, ensuring the social security payments cover private rents by restoring Local Housing Allowance rates is the single most effective lever to transition households from expensive and unsuitable temporary accommodation into a stable home. In the long term, we look forward to the government’s long-term housing strategy delivering a vision for a housing sector that works for us all.”

Act Now On ‘Devastating’ Temporary Accommodation Crisis

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The deaths of over 100 children have been linked to temporary accommodation, reports the Independent.

The government has been warned by MPs over the “devastating” state of temporary accommodation in the UK. New figures show that a total of 104 children died with temporary accommodation as a contributing factor to their vulnerability, ill-health, or death, according to data covering 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2025. The finding has been described as “absolutely scandalous” by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Households in Temporary Accommodation, which published the report on Wednesday with data from the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD).

Temporary accommodation is a form of homelessness often described as “hidden”, and can include locations such as bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) and hostels. The number of children living in temporary accommodation continues to reach record highs according to data published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in February. A total of 175,990 children were in such accommodation in England at the end of September – a rise of 7 per cent on the same point in 2024. The APPG also noted that between October 2023 and September 2025, 140 children whose main residence was listed as temporary accommodation had died. Assessments are ongoing to determine if their living conditions contributed to these deaths, with the report cautioning that confirmed links could significantly raise current figures.

The number of children living in temporary accommodation continues to reach record highs according to data published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in February.

APPG chairwoman Dame Siobhain McDonagh said she was “appalled to see yet another rise in the number of children whose deaths have been linked to temporary accommodation” and that the new data on stillbirths and neonatal deaths was “equally shocking”. She added: “We should all be outraged by these figures.” Meanwhile, a separate report from the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee warned that conditions in temporary accommodation are “often so poor as to be unfit for human habitation”.

The group of MPs urged the government to strengthen protections against substandard conditions, phase out unsuitable options like shared facilities for families, and plan for a long-term supply of quality temporary housing. Its chairperson, Florence Eshalomi, said: “It is truly devastating that this crisis has become a normalised emergency, with many families stuck in so-called temporary accommodation, and without a permanent roof over their head, for years.” Housing charity Shelter said it was a “national scandal for any child to die homeless in this country”, adding that a “dire lack of secure and genuinely affordable social homes has trapped over 175,000 children in unsafe temporary accommodation”.

Homelessness minister Alison McGovern said: “It breaks my heart that B&Bs are tragically contributing to the deaths of children. We must and we are improving the whole system, so every child can get the best start in life.” She said the Government had set out in its child poverty strategy, in December, a commitment to “eradicate unsuitable or poor-quality accommodation and ensure children in temporary accommodation do not experience gaps in healthcare provision”. The strategy pledged to “end the unlawful placement of families in bed and breakfasts beyond the six-week limit”, confirming the continuation of an £8 million pilot programme for the next three years across 20 local authorities with the highest numbers in this situation.

Coalition Urges Government To Address ‘Invisible’ Women’s Homelessness

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Single Homeless Project and Solace Women’s Aid are joined by partners across the homelessness and Violence Against Women and Girls sectors to write to Alison McGovern MP, Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness, calling for stronger action on women’s homelessness.

The letter, sent by the National Women’s Homeless Coalition alongside the National Domestic Abuse and Housing Policy and Practice Group, welcomes the Government’s ambition to end homelessness but warns that the National Plan does not yet adequately address the realities women face.

Lucy Campbell, Assistant Director of System Change at Single Homeless Project, said: “Women’s homelessness is systematically under-recorded, under-responded to, and too often rendered invisible by policies and practices designed around predominantly male experiences of homelessness.

Women make up half of the population in this country, yet their experiences continue to be overlooked in policy and data. If the Government is serious about ending homelessness, it must act now to ensure the National Plan properly reflects the realities of women’s homelessness and the risks they face.”

Women are less likely to sleep visibly on the streets because of the high risk of violence and abuse. Many instead sleep in places where they are less likely to be seen such as stairwells, hospitals, public transport or temporarily with strangers. Because official data often relies on people being visibly “bedded down”, large numbers of women experiencing rough sleeping are missed.  The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census, which has gathered data from more than 3,000 women across almost 100 local authorities since 2022, suggests the number of women sleeping rough may be ten times higher than official Government figures indicate.

Kathryn Parsons, Public Affairs Manager at Solace, said: “For four years, this report has shown that violence and abuse are near universal factors in the lives of women experiencing rough sleeping. While the government agendas to halve violence against women and girls and to halve rough sleeping present an opportunity, women’s voices and experiences must be embedded throughout new strategies for lasting change to take hold. We cannot endure another year of rising numbers, an increase in women’s stories, collected in vain. Women need change now.”

In the letter, the coalition sets out several steps the Government should take to ensure the National Plan works for women experiencing homelessness. These include:

  • Updating the Government’s definition of rough sleeping so it reflects the ways women experience homelessness, including hidden rough sleeping
  • Funding and supporting the rollout of the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census nationally
  • Expanding priority need in housing legislation to include survivors of rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation
  • Ensuring new government guidance and toolkits on homelessness prevention, outreach and temporary accommodation are gender informed

The organisations say they are keen to work with Government to ensure the National Plan is implemented in a way that recognises women’s experiences and addresses the links between homelessness and violence against women and girls. The letter was signed by nearly 50 organisations from across the homelessness, housing and domestic abuse sectors.

Why Are Homes Left Empty In The UK And How Can We Fill Them Up?

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Empty homes are ‘a sign of what is wrong with the housing crisis’, campaigners say. Here’s how many homes are being left empty in the UK, reports the Big Issue.

The UK has been gripped by a housing crisis for decades and empty homes mean that properties are lying vacant while record numbers of people are experiencing homelessness. Campaign group Action on Empty Homes recently revealed that more than one million homes are being left empty in England. The group’s analysis of government council tax data found 754,264 empty homes – with more than 300,000 empty over the long-term, and 268,153 second homes in the council taxbase. The number of homes left empty has been on the rise, the campaigners said. England’s empties are 13% higher than during the Covid pandemic and up 14% year on year. Meanwhile, London has seen numbers rise by almost a quarter in the last year and up 138% in the last decade.

“We are told that we can build our way out of a housing and homelessness crisis but it seems that our housing market is flooded with empty homes,” said Chris Bailey, director of policy and campaigns at Action on Empty Homes. The group released the figures to mark National Empty Homes Week in March. “We believe we are building the wrong housing to solve this crisis. But with the right incentives and support surely some of these empties could be used to make a difference? “Action on Empty Homes see empty homes both as a sign of what is wrong and as an opportunity to start turning our housing crisis around.”

Big Issue recently backed calls for a government empty homes strategy in England, with John Bird calling it “bold, long-term prevention thinking”. The number of vacant homes in England has risen by 50% in the decade since the last the last government-funded programme ended, Bailey said. He called for capital gains tax relief to allow empty homes to be sold into social housing stock. “At present we spend billions subsidising temporary accommodation trapping families in substandard accommodation while bankrupting councils when we could be investing in creating lifetime social homes by retrofitting and repairing wasted empty homes, while we await more significant investment in new social homes – which should be our highest priority,” said Bailey. “In 2026, our focus is on the opportunity which empty homes represent, to offer hope for the future. But that hope will be in vain while government continue to tie the council’s hands with weak powers and a focus on building homes that we won’t see for years, without getting the homes we already have occupied and upgraded.”

How many empty homes are there in Wales?

More than 22,000 homes are empty for more than six months in Wales at a time when one in every 14 households in Wales is currently waiting for a social home. The Bevan Foundation has suggested a shortage of social housing in the country could be solved by using existing homes and buildings. In Wales, there are currently 6,285 people living in temporary accommodation while they wait to be housed, including 2,500 children. To help tackle this, the Welsh government has been working towards the delivery of 20,000 new social homes during the current Senedd term. But with housebuilding levels slumping, attentions should turn to existing properties instead, the think tank said.

There were 22,528 homes in Wales empty for six months or more in 2025-26 and up to 4,500 could be suitable for purchase as social homes, according to Bevan Foundation analysis. A further 60,000 homes sold off under the Right to Buy scheme, which was abolished in Wales in 2019, could be purchased by social landlords. There are also opportunities to buy homes from second homeowners as well as holiday lets and private landlords looking to sell following greater regulations.

Wendy Dearden, senior policy and research officer at the Bevan Foundation, said: “It cannot be right that, tonight, thousands of families across Wales will go to bed in cramped, unsuitable rooms in B&Bs while perfectly good houses sit empty across the country. As homelessness and waiting lists for housing continue to grow, it’s clear that Wales’s housing crisis can’t be fixed by building alone. We need to look at how we can use the stock we already have – whether that’s by refurbishing empty homes and buildings or purchasing ex-council houses and privately-rented homes – to provide social homes at the scale that’s needed.” Dearden added that regulations would need to change to scale up efforts and more funding would be needed. Changes included amending land transaction tax to exempt social landlords and community groups repurposing homes and the Welsh working with the Westminster to review VAT rules. “In our research, we found great examples of local practice, and a real enthusiasm to bring existing properties into use,” she said.

How many empty homes are there in Scotland?

In Scotland, 44,453 privately owned homes have sat empty for more than six months as of September 2025. Of those, 32,337 have lay vacant for over 12 months. That was an increase of 915 homes over the previous year, according to figures published by the Scottish government. The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP) has called for continued investment and strategic working to realise the potential of the thousands of properties lying empty across the country.

The group, which formed in 2010, has brought 13,000 homes back into use. But, like in Wales and England, house-building levels remain low. The Scottish government has previously declared a housing emergency and pledged to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. Five years into the programme, 32,479 homes have been built. With 36,000 more by 2030 promised in the most recent comprehensive spending review, Shelter Scotland estimated 41,521 would have be built in the last two years to hit the milestone. That’s where turning to vacant properties could help.

Tahmina Nizam, Scottish Empty Homes Partnership national manager, said: “In councils across the country, dedicated empty homes officers are working hard to bring empty homes back into use. The figures are a reminder of just how important that work is. No home was built to sit empty, and we simply can’t afford to let these vital assets go to waste. Bringing empty properties back into use is a cost-effective way to ease housing pressures; in many cases it will be the simplest, quickest, way to expand local affordable and social housing stock.”

What are the solutions to empty homes?

Bringing homes left empty back into use is often the responsibility of local authorities. Councils in England can charge higher rates of council tax for properties left unfurnished and unoccupied to encourage owners to bring them back into use. That means council tax can double after a home is left empty for one year, rising to 200% for a home unoccupied for five years and 300% for more than a decade. The Welsh government’s national empty homes grant scheme offers homeowners up to £25,000 to renovate properties, making them energy efficient and suitable to live in. There is a £2 million loan fund in Scotland for acquiring and refurbishing empty homes.

But Propertymark research, which quizzed 226 councils in England, Scotland and Wales through freedom of information requests, found that only 38% of councils have an empty homes strategy in place and just 41% have at least one dedicated empty homes officer. Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at property agents body Propertymark, said: “Long-term empty properties are a visible reminder of a system that is not working as effectively as it should. At a time when housing demand continues to outstrip supply, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes unused is neither economically nor socially sustainable. Our research shows that while governments across the UK have introduced a range of measures, too many local authorities lack the dedicated resources, funding and strategic framework needed to deliver meaningful change. Financial penalties alone will not solve the problem. What works is sustained local engagement, professional advice, and properly funded empty homes teams that can support owners through the process of bringing properties back into use.”

The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026

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From 1 May 2026, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will give tenants new rights and introduce new rules for private landlords. This information sheet explains how the new rules may affect your current tenancy. These changes only affect you if you are a tenant in the private rented sector with an assured or assured shorthold tenancy. If you live in social housing or you are a lodger, the new rules will not usually apply to you. These rules have been introduced by law. Your landlord cannot put anything into a tenancy agreement to change or disapply them.

This document is only a summary of the changes. The new rules may change or impact your tenancy in a way not described below. The new rules apply to your tenancy automatically, even if your landlord does not update your tenancy agreement. If you do not have a written tenancy agreement or any written record of the tenancy’s terms, then your landlord must provide you with certain written information on or before 31 May 2026.

If your landlord serves you a notice seeking possession before 1 May 2026 The changes explained in this document may not apply to your tenancy on 1 May 2026 if your landlord serves a notice seeking possession under section 8 or section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 before 1 May 2026. If this happens, your landlord may still be able to take you to court to end your tenancy under the previous rules. You should seek advice if this happens to you.

Changes to fixed terms

You might have a fixed term tenancy. For example, your tenancy agreement may say the tenancy would last for 12 months. After 1 May 2026, it will not be possible for assured tenancy agreements to have a fixed term or a set end date. All tenancies will automatically become rolling tenancies from 1 May 2026 (sometimes known as ‘periodic tenancies’). Your tenancy will continue on a rolling basis. This will usually be monthly, unless your tenancy agreement sets out a shorter period, for example weekly or fortnightly. If your tenancy had an end date, it will no longer apply. Your tenancy will continue until:

  • you and your landlord decide together to end the tenancy
  • you end your tenancy by giving notice
  • your landlord ends it, if they have a valid legal reason

Your tenancy agreement might call your tenancy an ‘Assured Shorthold Tenancy’. This is the name of the private rented tenancy system until 1 May 2026. Assured Shorthold Tenancies will be abolished on 1 May 2026. Any tenancy previously called an Assured Shorthold Tenancy will automatically become an Assured Periodic Tenancy instead. Your tenancy will not end because of this change.

Increasing the rent

Your tenancy agreement may contain rent review clauses. These are terms in the agreement that allow the landlord to increase the rent. Rent review clauses cannot be used for new rent increases after 1 May 2026. If you have a rent review clause in your current tenancy agreement, it will not apply after this date. Landlords must instead use the process in section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 for increasing the rent. This means they can only increase the rent once per year. They will need to give you written notice of the proposed rent increase at least 2 months before that increase would take effect, using a form called Form 4A. Any rent increase must be no higher than the open market rent. If you think the proposed increase is above market rate, you can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal.

If your landlord wants to end your tenancy

Your tenancy agreement may say that your landlord can evict you without a reason. This was known as a section 21 eviction. Your landlord cannot give you a section 21 notice on or after 1 May 2026, even if your tenancy agreement says they can. Instead, your landlord will need a legal reason to evict you. These reasons are called grounds for possession. Below is a brief summary of some of the main reasons your landlord may legally seek to evict you. You can find full details of these and other grounds on GOV.UK.

  • If you have not paid your rent on time
  • If you, others living with you, or visitors commit antisocial behaviour in or near the property
  • If you, or others living with you, do not care for the property properly
  • If your tenancy was for certain purposes, for example it was connected to your employment, or was for temporary or supported accommodation

You cannot be required to leave under some grounds for the first 12 months of a tenancy. These are:

  • if your landlord intends to sell the property
  • if your landlord or their family member wants to move into the property

Your landlord will need to give you a section 8 notice of seeking possession, using 1 or more of the grounds for possession.

A section 8 notice must state the date by which your landlord is asking you to leave. They must give you the required amount of time under each ground. If you have not left by the end of the notice period, your landlord will need to apply to court to get the property back. This is called applying for a possession order. At court, the landlord must provide evidence that they have a valid reason to evict you. You will have the opportunity to explain why you think your landlord does not have a legal reason to evict you, or why eviction is not reasonable under certain grounds. You can access free legal advice through the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service1 before going to court and on the day of the court hearing.

If you want to end the tenancy

You will be able to end the tenancy at any point by giving your landlord notice. This must be done:

  • so the tenancy ends on a day when the rent is due or the day before the rent is due
  • in writing, for example, by letter or email

You will need to give your landlord at least 2 months’ notice. You can agree a shorter notice period with the landlord in writing, as long as any other tenants named on the tenancy agreement also agree.

Keeping a pet

From 1 May 2026, you have the right to request to keep a pet. Your landlord cannot unreasonably refuse your request. If they refuse, they must inform you in writing, and should tell you the reason why. They will need to consider each request on a case-by-case basis. You can challenge the landlord’s decision in court.

If you are a student who rents from a private landlord

If you are a full-time student, your landlord may be able to evict you using possession ground 4A. They will be able to do this at the end of the academic year and must give you 4 months’ notice ending between 1 June and 30 September. Your landlord can only use this ground if they have previously given you written notice that they may use it. They must give this to you by 31 May 2026, in most cases.  This information sheet does not count as that written notice. If your landlord wants to evict you at the end of the 2025/26 academic year, they can serve you a notice seeking possession between 1 May and 30 July 2026 (inclusive). They will need to give this to you with at least 2 months’ notice.

For detailed guidance, forms and links to free advice services, visit the private renting guidance pages on GOV.UK.

New Homeless Village Offers ‘Brilliant Solution’ That Organisers Want To Bring To A Town Near You

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Social Bite has opened its second homeless village in Scotland and the charity believes it could be a blueprint to helping councils address rising homelessness, reports the Big Issue.

Residents have moved into a new homeless village that organisers believe could offer councils an affordable way to address rising homelessness.

Social Bite’s new £3 million Harriet Gardens village of sustainable modular homes opens its doors on Thursday (9 April) at the former Westfield Saw Mills site in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, following a three-year wait. It’s the second village the Scottish social enterprise has opened following a settlement in Granton, near Edinburgh, back in 2018. The new supported living community arrives at a time when homelessness has increased across Scotland with local authorities and the Scottish government declaring housing emergencies in recent times.

Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn told Big Issue that the new village demonstrates what could be a “brilliant solution” to a homelessness crisis that has seen a record-high 18,092 households trapped in temporary accommodation across Scotland. “We feel we’ve got a fantastic homelessness accommodation model here now that would work in towns and cities all over the country basically,” Littlejohn told Big Issue. “We’re excited to start having those conversations and trying to work proactively with local councils to help bring this to other places. If you think about all of the councils declaring housing emergencies all over Britain, this is just a brilliant, brilliant solution to that. It’s not going to solve the whole thing but it’s going to make a massive difference to the people that are here.”

The first Social Bite village has helped more than 100 people experiencing homelessness to live independently in shared modular homes. The new village opened its doors on Thursday (9 April) two years after it was granted approval. Operated by South Lanarkshire Council with support provided by The Salvation Army, people who are currently homeless will live in 15 single-unit homes. The modular Nest Houses, manufactured by Ecosystems Technologies, have been improved following “eight years of feedback”, Littlejohn said. Residents also have access to an outdoor gym and a central community hub with shared spaces for cooking, group activities, therapeutic support and social connection. They are expected to spend between six and 12 months in the village with intensive wraparound support before moving on to the mainstream housing market.

The council’s homelessness lead toured Social Bite’s original Edinburgh village, according to Littlejohn, and decided to decommission the Lindsay House hostel in East Kilbride, which closed last year. “They felt it was outdated and not really fit for purpose and they were just getting really poor outcomes from it,” said Littlejohn. “I think they thought that the village could be a state of the art, purpose-built, alternative supported accommodation facility. It’s been quite a long process, but a rewarding one to see it come to fruition.” Littlejohn said the construction offers a more affordable alternative to temporary accommodation at around £82,000 per housing unit without compromising on quality. He added: “We were getting great outcomes where we saw people were really thriving and the people that were staying there were saying: ‘Wow, this is so much better than B&B’s or hostels or obviously rough sleeping.’ It was proving a really superior alternative so we felt the model had a lot of legs for other towns or cities to take it on.”

A total of 2,467 people declared as homeless in South Lanarkshire between 2024-25. Sharon Egan, South Lanarkshire Council’s head of housing services, said the project offered the chance for the local authority to change how it addresses homelessness. “This development began with an ambition, supported by our elected members and senior leadership team, to explore new and innovative approaches to homelessness, particularly for people with complex needs.” said Egan. “From the outset, Social Bite were a key partner in helping us turn that ambition into a reality, and I want to recognise the commitment, creativity and persistence they have shown throughout the journey and in particular thank Social Bite for the significant investment toward responding to and resolving homelessness in South Lanarkshire. We are very proud of what has been achieved with this project and look forward to seeing the impact it will have for many years to come.”

As for Social Bite, the ambition doesn’t stop at South Lanarkshire. The social enterprise, which has counted Leonardo Di Caprio and George Clooney among its celebrity supporters in the past, is hoping other councils will come forward to adopt the homeless village model. Social Bite has offered to make a financial contribution to cover construction and subsidise costs to local authorities. “We’d had the original village project in Edinburgh since 2018 and we’ve been kind of doing our own thing there and it’s been really successful,” said Littlejohn. “But other local authorities or local and national governments haven’t taken a great deal of interest in it over the last eight years. Now it seems like there’s quite significant interest from lots of local authorities. South Lanarkshire was the first one that took a bit of interest. We’re keen to really try and push the accelerator now.”

‘People Are So Judgmental’: The Growing Cohort Of Over-55s Facing Homelessness

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Richard Hewett, who was forced to sleep in his car when his relationship broke down, is one of many in the UK hit by rising costs and a lack of social housing, reports the Guardian.

When Richard Hewett’s relationship broke down, he was forced to leave his partner’s council house – but found his disability benefits didn’t stretch far enough to get him his own flat in his Essex home town. He resorted to the next best option: sleeping in his car. It wasn’t what he had expected, aged 59. At 6ft 2in, he squeezed into a Ford Focus and struggled to sleep. When he broke his ankle, he couldn’t look after it properly, contracted sepsis and had his leg amputated. But what stings the most is the feeling of shame. He was no longer able to take care of his appearance, which he had always taken pride in. He went to the toilet in a park daily, where passersby would ask: ‘Can’t you go somewhere else?’ “It was horrendous,” he said. “People are so terribly judgmental … It really had quite an effect on my mental health.”

Hewett is one of a rapidly rising number of people in older age groups facing homelessness as housing benefit levels fall behind rents, with recent figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that 15,690 households headed by over-65s are at risk of homelessness, a rise of 79% in the last five years. Hewett thinks “life is getting harder” for older people, especially those who are dependent on state support and who didn’t benefit from buying council homes but are instead now suffering from the dearth those sell-offs left behind. “Life has become so much more costly,” he said, adding that austerity and benefits freezes hadn’t helped. “They were bad enough before then,” he said.

Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of Shelter, said that as the population aged and rents soared, the charity was increasingly hearing from older people “who have been wrenched from the tight-knit communities they have lived in for decades and shunted into dismal temporary accommodation”. “Pensioners should be enjoying their hard-earned retirement, not facing the threat of homelessness,” she said. “To make sure people have dignity and stability in their old age, we must limit in-tenancy rent hikes and, ultimately, build a new generation of social rent homes.”

Several homelessness charities told the Guardian that rising numbers of people aged over 55 were seeking their help. Chain (Combined Homelessness and Information Network), which records information on rough sleeping, reported an increase in people in this age bracket sleeping rough in London from 450 at the beginning of 2024 to 713 at the end of 2025. Alexander Brown, the director of Soup Kitchen London, has seen “a clear increase” in the number of over-65s over the last two years, with this group now about 20% of the 200 people the charity helps each morning. They cite the rising cost of food and utilities, along with poor physical health and isolation, as factors.

The Greater Change charity, which has supported Hewett with a grant, said that over the last four years the median age among the people it supports had increased by more than eight years. Its chief executive, Jonathan Tan, first observed this in 2024 when the proportion of over-55s it helped doubled to 12%, from 6% in 2023. It has remained above 10% since. He said older clients were rarely pushed into homelessness by a single event. Instead, “loss, ill health, financial pressure and systemic gaps” pushed people into crisis, compounded by rising living costs, the loss of employment later in life and limited opportunities to re-enter the workforce, he said. Navigating benefits and pensions through complex online systems could be overwhelming for many older people, he added, with support often arriving too late when they were already in crisis. “We do think it will get worse … temporary accommodation is already under severe pressure and there is very little flexibility in the system,” he said.

Jess Harris, who researches homelessness at King’s College London, said there were two main cohorts of older homeless people: those at “the sharp end of need” who have experienced multiple adverse events – often addiction, mental illness and childhood trauma – who have lived on and off the streets for decades, and those more recently pushed into temporary homelessness. The problem is compounded by an under-researched “social care gap”, which perpetuates homelessness by failing to prevent and manage complex health problems, with older people living in hostels receiving health and social care “in establishments that really weren’t designed for these populations”, she said.

Morgan Vine, the director of policy at Independent Age, said the rise in older homelessness was “linked to the growing number of older people who find themselves living in the private rented sector”, with one-third of older private renters in poverty after housing costs. Although average UK rent has risen by 10.5% since April 2024, housing benefit has been frozen since 2024, which she urged the government to address. This was the experience for Sarah*, in her mid-60s. She ended up sofa surfing with friends and family after a relationship breakdown, and – like Hewett – learned that her benefits would not cover monthly rent or a deposit. She found herself in a double bind when her benefits were stopped due to the lack of a fixed address. “I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody, because you’d be sleeping on sofas and things like that. You’ve got to keep on moving around every three nights,” she said. “I think it’s difficult for older people now, especially if they don’t have friends and family to help them. They can’t afford much with prices going up … The government should help older people more to find a place to stay.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesperson said: “No one deserves to experience homelessness. That is why we are taking action to prevent homelessness and investing £3.6bn in homelessness and rough sleeping services. We’re also tackling the root cause of homelessness by building 1.5m new homes and investing £39bn in social and affordable housing. Our Renters’ Rights Act will also empower private tenants to challenge excessive rent hikes and give tenants the added security that they deserve.”

Former Homeless Man Opens Pizzeria Thanks To Foodbank Chef

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A man who was once homeless is now running a successful pizzeria thanks to a chef at a soup kitchen who taught him the art of making pizza, reports the BBC.

Mark Clarey, of Blackpool, said his life had “spiralled” and “he lost everything” in 2019, including his home and his events company, after the deaths of his mother, his step-father and his auntie within months of each other. But despite losing his home and staying in a friend’s shed, Clarey wanted to help when he heard about a charity asking for clothes donations for homeless people. Clarey spent time collecting clothes for Amazing Graze and his “good deed came back tenfold” when the founder offered to put him up in a hotel, something he described as a “turning point” that eventually led to him setting up Bedrock Pizza.

The 62-year-old said after his auntie and mum had died, his step-father’s death was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. He said he had “lost the plot” and took his eyes off his events business. It led to Clarey losing his home, though he still had a van. In November 2018, he used it to collect clothes and bedding for Amazing Graze, a community cafe that supports homeless people. When he handed the donations over to its founder Mark Butcher in a car park in Blackpool, the chance meeting was what Clarey described as a “massive turning point”.

Butcher, who was then a trustee at the charity and is still a volunteer, was impressed that Clarey was helping others when he was also homeless. He offered to pay for a hotel out of his own pocket to keep Clarey off the streets.

“I was very, very fortunate,” Clarey said. It was the start of a great friendship and Clarey said Butcher had given him mental stability and moral support that enabled him to bounce back. It also happened to be at a time when Amazing Graze was forced to find new premises and moved to Bolton Street in South Shore, Blackpool.

Clarey, who was an electrician and plumber and could tile, volunteered to help do it up, as a thank you for Butcher paying for his accommodation. “It was a wreck,” he said. “It didn’t even have modern plug sockets.” Clarey said they had started building a temporary kitchen along with other volunteers on a Monday and the soup kitchen was serving food by the Friday. “It gave me something to occupy my mind and gave me meaning and purpose,” he said.

In 2020, he helped transform part of the premises into Pizza Grazia restaurant to boost Amazing Graze funds. This resulted in one of the group’s volunteers, who was a trained chef, teaching Clarey how to make pizzas and it eventually inspired him to set up a business making wood fired pizzas from a van. “I had seen an old retro caravan at a festival in 2015. The hatch opened and there was a pizza oven inside,” he said. “I thought then it was a great idea for business.” Clarey refurbished a van and launched Bedrock Pizza in September 2020.

As well as running the business, he has continued to volunteer at Amazing Graze and he is currently helping to transform the first-floor building into a church and community centre. “I needed a hand up – not a hand out – and that is what Mark gave me,” he said. Butcher, 56, said Clarey “was one of the charity’s biggest success stories” and a “shining example” of people who had been helped by Amazing Graze. He said they had helped each other since the lucky stroke of serendipity in a car park in Blackpool and they were “like brothers” now.

They had a lot in common, including both losing their mothers. “We related in our grief for our mums,” he said. Clarey is leading the team of volunteers currently turning the first-floor of Amazing Graze’s building into a church and community centre. “He is very gifted… he was also a top DJ… and can fix and do anything,” Butcher said. He added he was “very proud” of what Clarey had done.

Half A Million Empty Homes Are ‘Hiding In Plain Sight’

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A study by Habitat for Humanity found that empty council properties have soared in the last five years while empty privately owned, non-residential buildings could yield 500,000 homes, reports the Big Issue.

Empty council properties are up by a third in England in just five years, research has found, with a charity explaining that half a million homes across the country are “hiding in plain sight”. A study by Habitat for Humanity Great Britain (HfHGB) and London School of Economics found that, since 2021, empty council properties are up by 44% in Wales, 30% in England and 18% in Scotland. The increase is even larger in certain areas, with Sheffield seeing an almost 500% rise in empty buildings since 2021.

The charity claimed that these empty properties have the potential to be converted to provide 25,000 new homes for those in need. That comes at a time when Labour has doubled-down on its promise to build 1.5 million new homes in order to address the housing crisis. At the same time, the latest government figures found 134,760 households in England are living in temporary accommodation, with 172,420 children recorded as living in temporary accommodation as of September 2025 – a record high. Habitat for Humanity Great Britain added, that beyond empty council properties, there are 175,000 privately owned, empty non-residential buildings in England, and claimed they have the potential to provide over 500,000 homes at a “fraction of the environmental cost of new builds”.

Henrietta Blackmore, national director of HfHGB, explained that councils across the UK are dealing with stretched budgets, but converting empty properties into homes could help alleviate the high costs of providing temporary accommodation to households facing homelessness. “The budgetary pressures local authorities face are not helped by constant fire-fighting with scarce resources,” said Blackmore. “Vulnerable people have better outcomes when they have access to safe, good quality accommodation. Providing that sort of housing now reduces the day-to-day costs that councils face tomorrow.” Blackmore added: “The fact we have empty buildings and a housing crisis isn’t new, but it’s time for all involved to grasp new ways of thinking and doing to boost the stock of social housing. That’s what our report sets out; practical steps that could be taken to address the overwhelming domestic challenge of our times.”

As well as uncovering the increase in empty properties across the UK, the HfHGB report recommended the creation of a government task force in order to tackle the issue, also proposing a requirement for local authorities to publish registers of empty commercial units and assess their suitability for conversion. They also recommended removing barriers to private and public investment in conversion projects. HfHGB explained that new build housing doesn’t incur VAT, while most conversions are charged a 20% VAT rate. The charity stated that this tax rate should be equalised, and that councils “should be able to access funding from existing schemes to support building regeneration”.

The report also stated that converting existing empty buildings into housing is “significantly better for the environment”, and that the government should update existing UK net-zero building standards to support the conversion of empty buildings. “Walk around any town centre and you’ll see empty buildings that are overlooked. Many of these could be reused as great homes, reducing the carbon impact of the building industry and supporting the government’s pledge to reduce housing costs for families,” said Blackmore. “We know that empty commercial buildings are often overlooked because they seem more complex than open spaces. Greater support and clarity from the government could see many more homes unlocked, in the places we need them most,”

Alex Greaves, global head of living at M&G plc, added that there is a “huge, untapped potential” in empty buildings in the UK. “By enabling local authorities to partner effectively with the private sector to bring empty commercial buildings back into use, the government can accelerate the delivery of high-quality homes, cut carbon emissions, and breathe new life into urban communities,” Greaves added.

Big Issue recently joined calls for action on empty homes. We were part of a coalition of 25 organisation urging the government to create an empty homes strategy. Big Issue founder Lord John Bird said a strategy “presents a smart opportunity to put much-needed homes back into a failing system”.