Homelessness Crisis in the UK: A Reflective Study on Causes, Challenges, and Policies Case Study

Homelessness Crisis in the UK: A Reflective Study on Causes, Challenges, and Policies

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Homelessness in the UK has been a major concern and the majority of people are suffering due to homelessness. High pricing and huge taxes have caused people in the UK to suffer. This study has described three reflective practices regarding homelessness in the UK, and a detailed analysis of homeless people has been carried out. Moreover, various problems faced by homeless people have been mentioned, and their conditions and all policies of the government have been mentioned in detail. It has described various phases of homelessness and detailed reflection on rough sleep and statutory homelessness. Furthermore, reflection on various feelings of people towards the homeless has been mentioned in brief.

Reflective pieces 1:

What?

This study described homelessness in the UK. Homelessness has been a major concern for people in the UK and people need to sleep and have lived beside roads (Bramley and Fitzpatrick, 2018). The UK has major reports of people who are homeless and require major support from the government. This study reveals to us about harsh conditions of people who are homeless and have no home for them.

So What?

The UK has major reports of homeless people accounting for about 28,882 people living beside roads and other places (Aldridge, 2020). The UK is a fast-developing country in the world and the growth of the UK has seen a significant rise (Rahimi et al. 2020). Besides this development and growth, I learned that the economy of the UK is falling and prices of commodities are increasing day by day. I observed such huge prices created major problems for people in the UK and the majority of people are seen as homeless. After seeing such a huge number of people homeless in the UK, I feel very bad about them. My feelings and attitude changed after seeing such a condition in the UK. This study of homelessness in the UK changed my previous thinking about the UK and I want to bring attention to the government to do something for such homeless people in the UK. From this study, I came to know various factors causing homelessness in the UK and I came to know that such factors changed people's lives in the UK (Stone et al. 2019). Major factors that lead to homelessness in the UK include discrimination in the attitude of people towards lower caste people and the LGBTQ community (Heaslip et al. 2022). Another factor that I learned from this topic includes an increase in prices and privatization of major government agencies. Privatization causes major problems for people in the UK and people in the UK find it hard to buy a house and even pay rent (Dragset, 2022). I learned that property tax, water tax, and other taxes have been major problems for people in the UK. From this study, I observed that professional people who are working in big organizations have negative feelings toward homeless people in the UK and do not care about homeless people. This attitude of negative feelings of professional people towards homeless people has caused big problems for people in the UK. Throughout this study, I came to know various aspects of homelessness and came to know that homelessness in the UK is generally caused due to addiction and poverty. 

Now What?

Homelessness in the UK has been a major cause for a long time and in 2003-04 around 135000 people in the UK was homeless (Fullfact.org, 2018). I learned that homelessness in the UK though a major concern, however, there has been a dip in cases of homeless people. I learned that due to the increase in such huge prices of every item in the UK, homelessness would rise by 2024. Government data showed that at around the end of 2024, fifty-five to 60 thousand people in the UK will become homeless (Dunning et al. 2020). I tried to make aware that the people of the UK take homelessness as a serious concern and pay attention to the government to provide accommodation and help to such homeless people. Furthermore, I want to draw attention to the untouchability of government and impose certain rules and regulations for such acts.

Reflective Pieces 2:

What?

This study describes homelessness in the UK and its major causes that lead to the public in the UK. I have seen after learning through this study that there is a large number of people who are rough sleepers and sleep beside roads and houses (Parr, 2022). These rough sleepers are the persons who are involved in drugs and alcohol and do not have a house. I have studied that, rough sleepers are persons who are involved in abusing and fighting at home and are deported from their homes.

So What?

Rough sleeping in the UK has become prevalent nowadays and such people are harmed generally by the public and through accidents (Bretherton and Pleace, 2018). Accidents are a major cause of death for people in the UK who are generally rough sleepers. I have very bad feelings for such people who are mainly rough sleepers and sleep beside the roads. I have seen major cases of accidents and deaths of such people and every time I feel so bad about them. The education sector of the UK is very costly and due to a lack of education for poor people, thinking skills changed and people are switching towards drugs (Comunian and England, 2020). Drugs have affected a majority of people in the UK and people are prone to many diseases. I found that liver and kidney disease are significant for people who live beside roads and drug is the main reason behind such disease. COVID-19 played an important role for people who live in poverty regions and a majority of people become homeless. Throughout my whole journey of studying, I found that the majority of people who are homeless in the UK have no work and are generally affected by the pandemic. The pandemic caused thousands of lives in the UK and made a majority of people jobless.

Now What?

UK has seen a major job fewer people in COVID-19 due to the lack of jobs and the total shutdown of offices. I studied that major deaths have occurred for rough sleepers who sleep beside roads. I want to draw major attention to the government about such roadside people and appeal to provide shelter to such people who are in need. I further studied that roadside people have to face extreme conditions in the UK including cold winters. Winters are very harsh in the UK and I think that the government needs to do something better for the people of the UK. I now realize that better research related to this study needs to be carried out to find the actual number of people living beside roads.

Reflective Pieces 3:

What?

UK has reported major cases of homeless people and such cases are of people who just come out from prison. Statutory homelessness has been seen in the UK and the majority of people appeal for accommodation and shelter for themselves (Harding, 2019). I learned various important parts related to homelessness in the UK. Homelessness poses major risks for people who live beside homes and major statutory agencies are present in the UK that support homelessness in the UK. In this study, I came to know major agencies that are involved in caring for people in the UK and providing support to people who have no home.

So What?

I have mixed feelings regarding the situation of homelessness in the UK that are generally statutory homelessness. Statutory homelessness has seen risen and risen by 6% in 2021-22 data (Research briefings.files.parliament.uk, 2022). This increase in the percentage of increase in assistance of homelessness in the UK has led to the comfort of various homeless people in the UK. I have found that various relief bodies are present in the UK that provide special assistance to people who need shelter in the UK. People who are homeless in the UK need to appeal and raise their voices against the government and government authorities will provide special treatment for homeless people in the UK. Moreover, I found that people who are homeless in the UK have poor living conditions and a majority have unhygienic living conditions. Homelessness has caused various concerns in the UK and the majority of homeless people have mental problems (Cuthill, 2019). Bad mental conditions of people led people to move out of their homes and become homeless. Furthermore, I found that the majority of people have different viewpoints on homeless people. The majority of people in the UK think that homeless people are dangerous and may cause harm to local people. However, I think that statements are partially correct and partially wrong. People are partially correct in the sense that homeless people sometimes try to harm local people as they have less mentality and the majority are uneducated. Furthermore, not every homeless person is harmful and requires shelter.

Now What?

I studied major things related to homelessness in the UK and came to know various agencies that are helpful for homeless people. Homelessness is not considered a very important concern in the UK and the people of the UK are not giving any priority to this concern. I was not interested in government policies in the UK for homeless people and I want to bring major changes in policies of government regarding homeless people.

Conclusion

Homeless people in the UK have faced major problems in their lives, however, in comparison with other countries worldwide UK has fewer homeless people. It has concluded the study of homeless people in the UK will tend to rise by 2024 and people have gone through various problems in their lives. Homeless people in the UK are caused generally due to a lack of resources and an increase in poverty. Moreover, it has been found that homeless people tend to face various accidents, and the deaths of such people have been reported much. Furthermore, various statutory bodies are helping homeless people; however, not all bodies are capable of sheltering such a large number of homeless people.

References 

Books

Cuthill, F., 2019. Homelessness, social exclusion, and health: global perspectives, local solutions. Dunedin Academic Press Ltd, UK.

Harding, J., 2019. Post-War Homelessness Policy in the UK: Making and Implementation. Springer, Germany.

Journals

Aldridge, R., 2020. Homelessness: a barometer of social justice. The Lancet Public Health, 5(1), pp.e2-e3.

Bramley, G. and Fitzpatrick, S., 2018. Homelessness in the UK: who is most at risk? Housing Studies, 33(1), pp.96-116.

Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N., 2018. Women and rough sleeping: A critical review of current research and methodology.

Comunian, R. and England, L., 2020. Creative and cultural work without filters: Covid-19 and exposed precarity in the creative economy. Cultural Trends, 29(2), pp.112-128.

Dragset, T.M., 2022. Homelessness from a foreign perspective. Qualitative research on how professional social workers at Cork Simon Community help and support humans suffering from homelessness in the Republic of Ireland (Bachelor's thesis, Høgskulen i Volda).

Dunning, R., Moore, T., Ferrari, E., Hoolachan, J., Keskin, B., Powell, R. and Obrien, P., 2020. Affordable Housing Need in Scotland Post 2021.

Heaslip, V., Thompson, R., Tauringana, M., Holland, S. and Glendening, N., 2022. Addressing health inequity in the UK: people who are homeless, from ethnic minority groups or LGBTQ+ communities. Practice Nursing, 33(3), pp.112-116.

Parr, S., 2022. The changing shape of provision for rough sleepers: from conditionality to care. Housing Studies, 37(7), pp.1100-1123.

Rahimi, E., Shamshiripour, A., Samimi, A. and Mohammadian, A.K., 2020. Investigating the injury severity of single-vehicle truck crashes in a developing country. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 137, p.105444.

Stone, B., Dowling, S. and Cameron, A., 2019. Cognitive impairment and homelessness: A scoping review. Health & Social Care in the Community, 27(4), pp.e125-e142.