• What Is Homelessness?
• How Do People Become Homeless?
• Who become Homeless?

What Is Homelessness?

Homelessness is often thought of as people sleeping rough on the streets and it is true that this is the most visible and extreme form of homelessness.

To understand homelessness it is helpful to consider what is meant by a home.  A home is far more than just a roof over your head. Shelter NHAS believes that a home is somewhere affordable, of adequate size and design, in good repair, safe, secure and with support when required.
Our definition of homelessness includes those staying in temporary accommodation such as night shelters, hostels, bed and breakfast hotels and squats, or sleeping in their car. It also includes people living in overcrowded and poor housing conditions and those forced to sleep on a friend’s floor because they have no home of their own. 

Homelessness and overcrowding affects every area of a person's life: their physical and mental health, child development, relationships, education and employment opportunities. Without help many people become trapped in a cycle of hardship and deprivation from which it becomes difficult to escape.

How Do People Become Homeless?

There are many causes. Each individual, couple or family will have their own unique reasons or combination of circumstances:

Falling behind with rent or mortgage payments

By loss of earnings because they have lost their job or are unable to work. This could happen because of:

becoming ill

having an accident

having to look after a sick partner or other close relative

looking after children when a partner becomes ill

relationship problems

escaping abuse by a family member

overuse of and becoming dependent on alcohol or other addictive substances - sometimes but not always as a quick-fix solution to ease the distress of other problems including homelessness, unemployment, or to deal with the after effects of personal trauma or past or present abuse

becoming addicted to gambling or compulsive spending for similar reasons to the above

being evicted by a landlord

having a house fire, becoming flooded or storm damage

Who Become Homeless?

People with physical or mental health problems

People on benefits

People on low income

Young people leaving home for the first time

People leaving care

People with children

Old people

ex-prisoners

asylum seekers and refugees