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What is Homelessness? .

Homelessness.

Under the Housing Act 1996, 'homelessness' does not solely mean the lack of a home. A person should be treated as homeless if they have no housing that it is reasonable or safe for them to continue to occupy.

The housing charity Shelter explains that you are homeless if you are:

  • Staying with friends or family
  • Staying in a hostel, night shelter or B&B
  • Squatting (because you have no legal right to stay)
  • At risk of violence or abuse in your home
  • Living in poor conditions that affect your health
  • Living apart from your family because you don’t have a place to live together

Rough sleeping.

Rough sleepers are defined by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government(for the purposes of rough sleeping counts and estimates) as follows:

"People sleeping, about to bed down (sitting on/ in or standing next to their bedding) or actually bedded down in the open air (such as on the streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments), people in buildings or other places not designed for habitation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations, or 'bashes'). The definition does not include people in hostels or shelters, people in campsites or other sites used for recreational purposes or organised protest, squatters or travellers."