Coronavirus: The forgotten homeless falling through the gaps - BBC Newsnight

Tackling homelessness across the UK was seen as one of the government’s pandemic success stories.

In England the Homelessness Response Fund saw around 15,000 people taken off the streets.

But charities are worried that some of those affected by the pandemic are at risk of falling through the cracks in the system, with the problem only likely to get worse.

Yasminara Khan reports.

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[nurjehankhan]

2020 Britain and homelessness is still an issue. It saddens me greatly. Welfare and wellbeing are fundamentally important.

[borisjohnsonisaliar]

maybe the government should do something rather than sit on there hands and blame every one else

[paulgibbons]

If they came across the Chanel in a dingy they would be in four star accomodation now.
48000 Illegal immigrants at a cost of 4 billion a year to the UK tax payer.

[nonyabizness.original]

there are many levels of this problem too. as an american senior, hundreds of thousands of us are spending our retirement traveling the country in the rv's and campers that we live out of fulltime. it's a rewarding life, and a very cheap way to stretch limited money too. we buy annual passes that allow us to use parks all over a state or the country for little money, and we proceed to follow the good weather and experience the breathtaking natural beauty and the wonderful comradery of this easy peasy lifestyle.

so we mosey from federal and state campground to campground, staying up to the two week limit. many older folk need to plug into electricity to operate cpap machines or to refrigerate their medications, and these organized camps have that, along with drinking water, shower rooms, trash collection, and fellowship.

since mid-march, covid has seen nearly all of these camps close. now, all of our careful planning for older age has been exploded. i personally have gone from years of carefree and joyful wandering, to feeling a bit homeless, out of sorts, stressed. and i am one of the lucky ones, who lives out of my solar-powered, self contained camper, so i can park- boondock- in a remote forest or desert and be ok.

by the time the authorities realize that living outside in nature and fresh air, and sleeping inside our own personal campers, is probably the healthiest way to make it through a pandemic, i imagine it will be too late for many of the poorest, sickest, oldest of my fellow nomads. but then, it seems the authorities have no care or time for the plight of a bunch of old vagabonds.

[rjmunro]

How was the guy at the beginning not able to keep living at the pub while it was closed for coronavirus? Money from furlough should have been enough to pay rent.

[greeneyedbeing]

So sad, its either you live on the streets or you live in a hostel being constantly threatened by strangers and having them assault or steal from you. Even in temp accommodation you get the same. I know from experience.

[a]

Westminster city council the richest council in London refusing to house the homeless - fraud as what are they doing with the extra money they have had?

[adrinajones]

A lot don't want safe accomadtion.They prefer it's a way of life .Try being a woman homeless double scary then told no temp accomdation fir women .

[rso]

That is not what someone who has been living under bridges for 3 months looks like