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CHAPTER SEVEN: HOMELESSNESS IN THE LOCAL AREA

Introduction and background

7.1 This chapter moves beyond general attitudes to homeless people to examine views on homelessness in the context of the local area. As referred to throughout this report, local authorities have a range of accommodation duties towards people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. The Code of Guidance on Homelessness ⁴⁰ states that local authorities have a duty under section 20 of the 1987 Act to give 'reasonable preference' in the selection of tenants to people assessed as being homeless (regardless of the outcome of further assessment into priority need or intentionality). This duty to give reasonable preference also extends to those occupying houses which are overcrowded, below the tolerable standard, or provide unsatisfactory housing conditions, and to large families. The code states that:

What degree of preference is 'reasonable' is a matter of judgement but, at the very least, homeless people should not be given lesser preference than the other specified groups. These reasonable preference requirements do not prevent priority being given to other groups of applicants besides those listed in section 20, and local authorities still have to consider applications from homeless or other people on their individual merits.

7.2 Alongside the 'reasonable preference' guidance, the code also outlines that homeless people should not be placed in temporary accommodation unnecessarily, and that their time there should be as short as possible before being moved into permanent accommodation. However whilst this is the ideal situation, the code recognises that homeless people may sometimes need to be accommodated in temporary accommodation. Therefore local authorities have to make judgements about how and when to move a homeless household into permanent accommodation in the context of limited housing availability,

7.3 The 2006 Scottish Social Attitudes survey asked three questions that explore the issue of local authorities giving housing preference to homeless people and as well as people's attitudes towards having homeless people in their local area. The three questions asked were:

• Councils find homes both for homeless people and for other local people who need housing, but are on a waiting list. How often, if ever, should homeless people get homes before other local people on the waiting list?
• How strongly would you agree or disagree that …. Homeless people often cause problems in this area?
• How comfortable or uncomfortable do you think you would feel if you heard that houses or flats very near to you were going to be used to house people who had been homeless?

We address each of these questions in turn. In addition to exploring how views vary by the type of area people live in and other factors, we also briefly examine whether people's attitudes to homeless people in their local area are different from their attitudes to homelessness more generally. Do some of those who believe that all homeless people should get help nonetheless express discomfort at the idea of homeless people being re-housed near them?

Key questions

• What are people's attitudes to homeless people in their local area?
• How do views vary by the type of area people live in and other factors?
• Do people's attitudes to homeless people in the local area differ from their attitudes to homeless people more generally?

Should homeless people get priority above other local people on the waiting list?

7.2 Earlier in the report we established that public opinion appears to be somewhat out of sync with the Scottish Government's policy of abolishing 'priority need' by 2012 ⁴¹. Many people believe that some groups and kinds of homeless people are more deserving and should get more help finding a home than others. In addition to exploring whether the public believes different groups of homeless people should get more priority than others, the survey also examined whether or not people believe homeless people should get priority for homes over other local people, who are not homeless but are in housing need.

7.3 A majority of people (58%) believe that homeless people should 'sometimes' get homes before other local people on the waiting list (Figure 7.1). Just 7% say that they should 'never' get homes before other local people and the same proportion that they should 'always' get homes before them. A further 16% say homeless people should get homes first 'most of the time'. So while it is clear that for many people there are occasions when homeless people should get priority over other local people on the waiting list, only around a quarter are prepared to say this should happen as a matter of routine (most of the time or always). Moreover, a significant minority (15%) appear to believe that homeless people should get priority over other local people in housing need only rarely or never.

Figure 7.1 How often, if ever, should homeless people get homes before other local people on the waiting list?

Base: all respondents (1,594)

7.4 Although the most common responses across all social groups is that homeless people should 'sometimes' get homes before other local people on the waiting list, views on how often homeless people should get help to find homes over others do vary significantly by age and household income (Table 7.1):

• Younger people (aged under 45) are more likely than older people to say that homeless people should get homes before other local people on the waiting list 'always' or 'most of the time' (for example, 29% of 18-24 year-olds say this, compared with 15% of those aged 65 and over).
• The oldest age-groups (55+) are most likely to say that homeless people should 'hardly ever' or 'never' get homes before local people (for example, 24% of those aged 65+ say so, compared with 9% of those aged 18-24).
• People with the lowest household incomes (who are perhaps more likely to have experienced housing need themselves) are more likely than those on high incomes to say that homeless people should 'never' or 'hardly ever' be given priority over other local people on the waiting list (20% or those with household incomes of £11,999 a year or less, compared with 10% of those on £44,000 or more a year). One possible explanation for this could be that those with the lowest household incomes, who may be on/have been on social housing lists, may believe that they are pushed down these lists by homeless people.

7.5 There is also an association between people's general attitudes to homeless people and their views on how often homeless people should get priority over other local people on the waiting list. Those who hold more 'sympathetic' ⁴² attitudes to homeless people are more likely than those who are more 'critical' to say that homeless people should get homes before other local people on the waiting list 'always' or 'most of the time'. For example, a third of those who disagree that 'many people say they are homeless just to get a house from the council' also say that homeless people should get homes before others 'always' or 'most of the time', while just 19% of those who agree with this statement say the same . Similarly, those who are more 'critical' of homeless people are most likely to say that they should 'never' get priority over other local people on the waiting list - two in ten (21%) who agree that 'most homeless people could find somewhere to live if they really tried', say that homeless people should 'never' or 'hardly ever' get priority while only one in ten of those who disagree with this statement say the same.

Table 7.1 How often, if ever, should homeless people get homes before other local people on the waiting list BY age, household income and general attitudes to homeless people⁴³

Beliefs about homeless people causing problems in the local area

7.6 The self-completion section of SSA 2006 included a question which asked how strongly people agree or disagree that 'Homeless people often cause problems in this area'. We found that very few people (11%) agree that this is the case while more than half (52%) disagree (Figure 7.2). A relatively high proportion of (around three in ten) feel unable to choose one way or the other, saying they 'neither agree nor disagree' with this statement.

Figure 7.2 'Homeless people often cause problems in this area'

Base: all respondents who completed the self-completion questionnaire (1,437)

7.7 We explored whether views about homeless people causing problems in people's local area are associated with the characteristics of the area they live in - for example, level of deprivation and urbanity. We also looked at views by tenure. Only level of deprivation is significant. People living in the most deprived areas are much more likely than those in the least deprived areas to agree that homeless people cause problems in their area (18% compared with 7% in the least deprived areas - Table 7.2).

Table 7.2 'Homeless people often cause problems in this area' BY deprivation

How comfortable are people with homeless people being re-housed near to them?

7.8 We asked people how comfortable or uncomfortable they would be if they heard that houses or flats near to them were to be used to house people who had been homeless. As Figure 7.3 highlights, views are fairly evenly split - around 3 in 10 (31%) say they would feel comfortable with this, while a third (33%) say they would feel uncomfortable and a further a third say they would be neither comfortable nor uncomfortable.

Figure 7.3 How comfortable/uncomfortable with people who have been homeless being housed very near to you?

Base: all respondents (1,594)

7.9 Attitudes vary significantly by age, level of deprivation and household income (Table 7.3).

• 18-24 year-olds are most likely to say that they would be comfortable with people who have been homeless being housed near to them (43% compared with 24% of those aged 55-64)
• the oldest age groups (55 and above) are most likely to say that they would be uncomfortable with this (45% of those aged 55-64, compared with 18% of 18-24 year-olds).
• those living in the least deprived areas of Scotland are most uncomfortable with the prospect of homeless people being housed near them (40% say they would be uncomfortable compared with 28% of those living in the most deprived areas).
• those with the lowest household income (£11,999 a year or less) are most comfortable with homeless people living near to them (40%, compared with 26% of those with annual incomes of £44,000 or more).

Table 7.3 How comfortable/uncomfortable with homeless people being housed nearby BY age, deprivation and household income

7.10 We might expect to find that those people who hold more 'sympathetic' attitudes towards homeless people in general will be more comfortable with the idea of people who have been homeless being housed near to them than those who express more 'critical' or 'judgemental' attitudes towards homeless people generally. Our results tend to confirm these expectations, at least in part (Table 7.4). For example, 41% of those who disagree that 'many people say they are homeless just to try to get a house from the council' say they would be 'very' or 'fairly comfortable' with homeless people being re-housed near them, compared with only 24% of those who agree with this statement. Similarly, those who believe that all homeless people are equally deserving of help are more comfortable with people who have been homeless living near to them than people who believe that some are more deserving of help than others (39%, compared with 26%).

7.11 However, the association between generally 'sympathetic' attitudes and feeling 'comfortable' with homes near you being used to re-house homeless people is not perfect. For example, around a quarter (27%) of those who disagree that 'most homeless people could find somewhere to live if they really tried' (a more 'sympathetic' viewpoint) also say they would be 'uncomfortable' if accommodation near them was used to house people who had been homeless. Similarly, 27% of those who say that different kinds of homeless people should all get the same amount of help (arguably a more sympathetic point of view) also say they would be uncomfortable with homeless people living nearby. So there is some evidence of that people's attitudes to homelessness may differ when the issue is being addressed within their own locality.

Table 7.4 How comfortable with homeless people being housed nearby BY general attitudes to homeless people

Key points

• A majority of people (58%) think homeless people should 'sometimes' get homes before other local people on the housing waiting list. Only a minority (7% in each case) think homeless people should either 'never' or 'always' get homes first.
• Older people and those on low household incomes are more likely to think homeless people should 'never' or 'hardly ever' get homes before others, as are those who express more 'critical' attitudes towards homeless people in general.
• Only 1 in 10 (11%) believes that homeless people cause problems in their local area, while over half (52%) disagree that this is the case.
• However, those who live in the most deprived areas of Scotland are more likely than those in the most affluent areas to think that homeless people cause problems locally (18% compared with 7%).
• When asked to consider how comfortable or uncomfortable they would feel with homeless people being re-housed near them, people are relatively evenly divided - around a third say they would be comfortable, a third uncomfortable and a third neither comfortable nor uncomfortable.
• Older people, those living in the least deprived areas of Scotland and those on high incomes are most likely to say they would feel uncomfortable.
• While those who express generally more 'sympathetic' attitudes to homeless people are more likely to say they would feel comfortable, the association is not perfect. This suggests that attitudes to homelessness are complex and may vary when people are asked to consider the issue being addressed in their own local area.

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