Scottish Government

A. Experience of sleeping rough for homelessness applicants

Introduction

A.1 The homelessness electronic data capture system introduced in autumn 2001 gathered, for the first time, information about the circumstances of applicant households in the period immediately prior to their application for assistance. In addition to a detailed question on the main reason for homelessness the questions covered whether the household was moving from settled accommodation, had recently come from the family home and whether a member of the household had slept rough before applying for assistance.

A.2 These questions, together with guidance on their interpretation, are:-

11. Has the applicant come from the family home?(as a guide - the answer to this would be yes if the family home was the applicant's last settled accommodation, from which they left no more than, say 6 weeks ago)

12. Has any member of the applicant household slept rough during the 3 months preceding their application?Has any member of the applicant household slept outside, in the open air (such as on the streets, or in doorways, parks or bus shelters) or slept in a building or other place not designed for habitation (such as barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations etc.) for at least one full night in the last 3 months.

13. Did any member of the applicant household sleep rough on the night immediately preceding the date of application?

14. Was the applicant's most recent accommodation preceding presentation settled accommodation?(settled accommodation being a dwelling in which resident for at least 6 months)

A.3 In 2005-06, the most recent year for which we have information, 10.2% of applicants reported that a household member had slept rough for at least one night in the previous 3 months and 6.6% of applicants reported that they slept rough the night before applying. This section provides an analysis for those who slept rough on the night immediately preceding their application.

Relationship with previous research into rough sleeping

A.4 Previous research into ¹.rough sleeping, designed to monitor the impact of the rough sleeping initiative between 2001 and 2003, provided estimates of the numbers sleeping rough in reference weeks in spring and autumn each year These weekly counts were compiled by the research team by gathering summary information on each rough sleeper from organisations in contact with rough sleepers and, as far as practical, eliminating duplicates.

A.5 This research identified 328 rough sleepers in the seven days between 21 and 27 October 2003. In the same day period, 130 applicants for assistance under the homelessness legislation said that they had slept rough on the night before applying for assistance - i.e. about 40% of the number estimated to have been sleeping rough.

A.6 While the two measurements are not directly related - not all who sleep rough on any one night will present as homeless the next day, and not all who sleep rough will come in contact with support organisations in a week in which they sleep rough - nevertheless there is likely to be a fair degree of overlap in the characteristics and experiences of those applying for assistance and the larger group who slept rough.

Trends

A.7 Chart A1 shows the number of homeless applicants sleeping rough on the night before applying for assistance in each month from April 2002. The data show, unsurprisingly, a marked seasonal pattern - drawn out more clearly in the 3 month moving average - with peaks in the summer months and significantly lower incidence in winter months. The figures show a marked downward trend over the period from around 400-500 per month in 2002-03 to between 300 and 400 per month in 2005-06, with the average number dropping from 443 per month in 2002-03 to 329 per month in 2005-06.

Chart A1: Number of homeless applicants per month sleeping rough on the night before applying for assistance

A.8 In 2005-06, the four cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow together with Highland and Fife accounted for over two thirds (67%) of all applicants who slept rough the night before applying for assistance (Table A1). From Chart A2, there are both urban and rural areas which have a relatively high incidence of rough sleepers among homeless applicants. The cities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow have higher proportions of applicants sleeping rough the night before presentation, as do the rural areas of Highland, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Dumfries & Galloway.

A.9 The high incidence of rough sleeping reported by homeless applicants in Aberdeen may, in part, be because there is a higher proportion of single applicants in Aberdeen and rough sleeping is more likely among single homeless (see analysis below). However, numbers of homeless applicants in Aberdeen sleeping rough on the night before presenting as homeless is also not consistent with the findings of the rough sleepers monitoring research. In October 2003, the monitoring research recorded 15 rough sleepers in the reference week, accounting for 5% of all rough sleepers recorded in Scotland, while rough sleepers presenting as homeless in Aberdeen in October 2003 accounted for 13% of the Scottish total.

Table A1 Average number of applications per month where at least one member of the household slept rough the night before applying for assistance: 2005-06

Chart A2: Councils with over 5% of applicants sleeping rough in the night before applying for assistance: 2005-06

Household characteristics

A.10 Single men predominate the group who sleep rough before presenting as homeless, accounting for over 75% of this group. The ratio of men to women (84% men: 16% women) in those applying for homelessness assistance is also very similar to male/ female ratios found in the rough sleeping research (84% men: 15% women in May 2003; 79% men: 21% women in October 2003). (Chart A3).

Chart A3: Household types of those who slept rough the night before presenting as homeless

A.11 The incidence of rough sleeping ² among single male applicants is significantly higher among those aged 25-54 than in other age groups, representing over 13% of applicants in the 35-44 and 45-54 age bands. The incidence is much lower among single women applying for assistance and peaks at the younger age band of 25-34 (6% of female applicants in this age group). (Chart A4)

Chart A4: Percentage of single male and female applicants who slept rough the night before applying for assistance: Scotland 2005-06

Previous circumstances of applicants who slept rough

A.12 It is notable that around 27,000 of applications for assistance in 2005-06 were from those who had come from the family home no more than six weeks before applying and who had been in that accommodation for at least six months (Chart A5). This group, which accounted for 45% of applications in 2005-06, had been in relatively stable circumstances prior to their application. In contrast there were around 20,000 applicants who did not come from the family home and whose last accommodation was not settled accommodation.

Chart A5 Applications in 2005-06 by whether the applicant came from the family home and whether their last accommodation was settled accommodation

A.13 As might be expected, those who slept rough the night before applying were much less likely to have come from the family home or from settled accommodation. Some 34% of rough sleepers came from the family home compared with over 55% of those who had not slept rough. (Chart A6). Nevertheless, a significant proportion - over a third - of those who had slept rough the night before had left the family home in the quite recent past.

A.14 Of those who slept rough the night before applying for assistance, single men and single women are significantly less likely to have come from the family home than other types of household.

Chart A6: Percentage of applicants who came from the family home by household type and whether the applicant slept rough the night before applying

Repeat applications

A.15 Applicants who had slept rough the night before presenting as homeless were significantly more likely to be a repeat applicant than those who had not slept rough. In 2005-06, 13% of applicants who had slept rough had also presented as homeless at least once in the previous 12 months, compared with 8% of applicants who had not slept rough. Almost all of these repeat applicants were single people and, of these, mostly men (Chart A7).

Chart A7: Homeless applicants sleeping rough the night before who had presented as homeless on at least one occassion in the previous 12 months

Reasons for application

A.16 The reasons for homelessness among single people who slept rough the night before applying have a very similar pattern to the reasons given by those who had not slept rough (Chart A8). Those who slept rough were slightly more likely to have lost temporary accommodation or a short assured tenancy. The 15% of single rough sleepers giving other reasons for their homelessness - about 500 single people in 2005-06 - will include those whose homelessness is not caused by an immediately identifiable change in circumstances.

Chart A8: Pecentage of single applicants by reasons for homelessness separately for those who did/ did not sleep rough

A.17 For households with children, the main reason for homelessness was a dispute within the household. Within this group rough sleepers ³ were more likely than those who had not slept rough to give this reason while rough sleepers were less likely to be homeless through loss of a tenancy or mortgage default. (Chart A9).

Chart A9: Reasons for homelessness for households with children who did/ did not sleep rough the night before applying

Assessment of applicants

A.18 Whether or not a single person slept rough the night before applying does not appear to be a major factor in determining whether the household was assessed as being in priority need. In 2005-06 the proportions of single applicants assessed as priority homeless were almost the same for those who had slept rough the night before applying for assistance and for those who had not slept rough. (Chart A10) Also, contact is more likely to be lost prior to assessment with those who had slept rough the night before applying. Greater proportions of lost contact are likely to reflect the less settled circumstances of higher proportions of the rough sleepers.

Chart A10: Single applicants in 2005-06 who did/ did not sleep rough the night before application by assessment

A.19 Households with children with a household member who slept rough were more likely to be assessed as priority homeless and much less likely to be assessed as potentially homeless than those who did not. (Chart A11). It is not surprising that very few households where a household member slept rough would be potentially homeless. While, overall, the likelihood of lost contact before assessment is much lower for households with children, nevertheless contact is significantly more likely to be lost when a household member slept rough.

Chart A11: Households with children where one or more family members did/ did not sleep rough by assessment

Outcomes

A.20 Of single applicants in priority need, those who slept rough the night before applying for assistance were slightly less likely to secure permanent accommodation as the outcome of their application and significantly more likely to be placed in temporary accommodation than those who had not slept rough. (Chart A12) While provision of temporary accommodation does not discharge the council's duty to a single applicant, providing temporary accommodation may be an appropriate interim solution to meeting specific needs of a homeless person who would find it difficult to sustain a tenancy.

Chart A12: Outcome of application for single people assessed as in priority need who did/ did not sleep rough the night befor applying

A.21 For households with children assessed as priority there was very little difference between the outcomes for those where no household member slept rough the night before applying and the very small number of households where one or more members slept rough. In both cases, over three quarters of those in priority need secured permanent accommodation. (Chart A13)

Chart A13: Households with children in priority need by outcome separately for households where a member did/ did not sleep rough