Housing Crisis Not About Housing Says Housing Minister

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has been giving his views on tackling rough sleeping and homelessness in the country post-pandemic.

Speaking at a right-wing think-tank Centre for Social Justice event, he said: “I think homelessness is probably even more of a crisis of addiction and mental health than it is about housing. If you spend time with homeless people, particularly more persistent, longer term rough sleepers, sadly the vast majority have either one or the other; serious mental health issues or addiction problems.”

“So we have got to get NHS and the Department for Health to view this as the emergency that it is, to be thinking very innovatively about the care they provide to people, including on the streets.” On this point, he also said: “There is a lot to do and I need to get my other cabinet colleagues to support me as I don’t think this is just a housing crisis, this is also a crisis of mental health and addiction and there are also law enforcement issues. As well as trying to support people, we’ve got to take action against aggressive begging, gangs on the streets, individuals coming to this country to beg.”

But he stated that the goal of ending rough sleeping by 2024 is still achievable, despite being made harder by Covid-19. The Secretary of State said: “There is going to be unfortunately flow onto the streets as always happens during economic downturns and that will make it more challenging, but I do think it is possible. We saw during the Everyone In programme that the government organised and was delivered by councils and charities at the beginning of the pandemic, the incredible will and ability to make things happen when the shoulder is to the wheel.”

He added: “We want now to build on that. It would be a huge missed opportunity and one we would be ashamed of ourselves for if we didn’t try and prevent as many of these people as possible from drifting back onto the street.” The MP for Newark said he was a big supporter of the Housing First model, having seen it in Walsall, and said the government’s commitment to this cause was shown in the £1bn spent in tackling the issue in this spending period.

But when asked about whether the country was in the midst of a housing crisis, the Secretary of State gave a slightly surprising answer: “I am always hesitant about saying everything is a crisis because we call everything a crisis these days. I think objectively this is a very serious situation on many different measures, there are far too many people on local authority waiting lists, there have been far too many people sleeping rough, it is much more difficult than a generation ago for young people to get on the housing ladder, there are too many families living in temporary accommodation.

“So, on numerous levels, and you could say more, this is a very serious situation that demands radical action. I believe that is what we are doing and I hope that everyone who shares that conviction will support some of the reforms that we are taking forward, such as the planning reforms for example. These things are contentious and difficult, and they will not make everyone feel comfortable, but they are together they want to turn the tide and to tackle this issue and create a better system for the future.”