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News in Brief : Issue 157

August 01 2025
News in brief by the Pavement Team

Spare change

In a first-of-its-kind trial that could shape the future of homelessness support in the UK, homeless people have been given a ‘significant’ amount of cash to spend. Using a model pioneered by an organisation called Greater Change, it provides personalised cash grants for specific purposes. Run by the Centre for Homelessness Impact (CFHI) and commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the randomised controlled trial saw former rough sleepers living in temporary accommodation randomly selected to receive financial support in August 2024. It is one of eight projects under a three-year programme, backed with £15m of government funding. Charity support workers were instructed on what to buy by participants of the scheme, meaning the cash didn’t jeopardise benefits. The money was used for such things as furnishing homes, starting civil law courses, paying off debts, driving lessons and even contributing to wedding costs.


Race and housing

Heriot-Watt University has published a three-year research project, the first major study into homelessness and racism in more than two decades, finding that black people in England are almost four times more likely to face homelessness as white people and substantially less likely to get social housing, the Guardian reported in July. The team from the university’s Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research analysed 750,000 household outcome records from official homelessness data from 2019-20 to 2021-22, finding that 10% of Black families in the homelessness system gained access to social housing, compared with 24% of white families. With many experiencing “overt racism” from private landlords, recorded evidence showed people resorting to changing their name, accent and hairstyle to try to gain access to housing and other services.



© Beverley showcasing her dress designs. © Paul Williams
Hats off: Spotlight on a rough sleeper accommodation programme in Cornwall that has helped one guest recover her passion for design. Beverley Stratford-Johns enjoyed a successful career as a dress designer in west London, before leaving the industry to focus on her family. A series of unfortunate events led to her facing homelessness. She upped sticks and moved to Cornwall, and after putting her name forward through the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme she finally secured accommodation in the innovative housing pods project in Newquay, through Cornwall Council. Here her support worker, Liz, encouraged her to follow her dreams again. Staff sourced a sewing machine for Beverley so that she could begin to design again. She now creates hats and headbands, and has also trained as a photographer and taken a vehicle maintenance course through the supported housing scheme.


Final act?

The dreaded Vagrancy Act, a Victorian-era draconian act targeting people sleeping rough, is finally being repealed by the government. Déjà vu fans will enjoy this latest development, seeing as the Pavement has reported countless times on successive governments’ intentions to can the act. Still, the government is adamant they really mean it this time, and that the act will be repealed in spring 2026 via the Crime and Policing Bill currently before the UK Parliament. In a statement, Crisis labeled the move a “landmark moment that will change lives.”


Miscount

Over 10 times more women are sleeping rough in parts of England than official stats suggest, a report by Solace Women’s Aid and Single Homeless Project has revealed. The figure relates to the 1,777 recorded women individually identified in the multi-agency Local Insights meetings across 37 local authorities – a stark contrast to the official snapshot. Numbers from the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census, which is also supported by Crisis and Change Grow Live UK, indicate that the number of women sleeping rough in London is almost double official estimates.



The three artists (centre) with team members from the library and Arts & Homelessness International. © Shaz Alisha
Archive art: An exhibition was held at the LSE Alumni Centre in London in early July to showcase artwork produced by three artists working in collaboration with Arts & Homelessness International and LSE Library. Archives in Absentia featured new works by Amerah Saleh, Bengy Speer and Gemma Lees, drawing inspiration from the library’s archives and collections. The artists, working with LSE staff, produced work exploring homelessness through personal and historical lenses.


Village people

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has contributed £1.4m for the Embassy Homeless Village on the city’s Bridgewater Canal. The £5m site, operated by homelessness support charity Embassy, will house up to 40 people at a time. Work on the project – which will include a village hall, outdoor green spaces and mini allotments – began in early 2025 and the first set of residents are scheduled to be welcomed in January 2026. Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told the BBC: “This funding will be crucial in getting the project over the line and giving people the best support straight away.”


Picture perfect

The My Glasgow project by Simon Community Scotland has unveiled 24 photographs of Glasgow, all taken by people experiencing homelessness. Participants were given disposable cameras and asked to capture the city within one week. After the final 24 photographs were put on public display as part of the Merchant City Festival, the charity is now inviting the public to help choose 12 images to feature in the first My Glasgow Calendar, which will go on sale in October. All finalists received a cash prize, and the final 12 will receive a further prize for being part of the calendar. Funds raised from the sale of the calendars will go directly to helping people experiencing homelessness.



© Glasgow City Mission
Successful mission: This winter, after running for 15 years, Glasgow City Mission transitioned into its new Housing Settlement Officer (HSO) model, providing targeted, sustainable solutions to the homelessness crisis. From 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025, HSO delivered practical support and assistance with local community integration, advocating for individuals in temporary accommodation and helping them transition into stable housing. Weekly drop-ins were hosted within its city centre project to assist with applications, healthcare access and housing navigation. The HSO team engaged with 619 guests, supporting 51 individuals into permanent tenancies and 21 into temporary furnished flats. Prioritising safety during winter, it facilitated 233 emergency hotel stays for vulnerable individuals.


Landlord woes

In an article published by STV News in June, it is reported that Edinburgh councillors have raised questions over the due diligence carried out into the award of homeless housing contracts worth up to £8m to a company run by a convicted landlord. William Lennie, director of Edinburgh housing firm Phoenix Properties Edinburgh Ltd, had pled guilty to charges of unregistered lets and unlicensed HMOs (houses of multiple occupation) in 2010. Previously Lennie was charged in 1985 for ghost tenants and DHS fraud, and had been charged with mortgage fraud around 2000. The two contracts, together worth almost £8m, are for households which “will be able to independently manage in their own accommodation”, and for those who will be able to receive a visiting service to help with “housing support skills”. The contracts were both signed on 1 May 2025, with the decisions being published on 30 May.


Law on your side

Amidst Scotland’s homelessness crisis, Law Society of Scotland posed in an article published in June that with a shortage of solicitors, “there is unmet legal need in the area of housing and homelessness,” suggesting this to be the greatest barrier to accessing justice for tenants and homeless people in Scotland. A report for the Scotland Housing and Property Chamber for 2022/23 records an 80% increase in applications for eviction since 2019/20 and that around 60% of landlords were represented in applications for eviction, in contrast to 7% of tenants. Although the Scottish Legal Aid Board runs several grant-funded programmes that provide legal advice and representation to tenants and homeowners, these are funded for 12 months at a time, meaning it provides little comfort by way of job security or business sustainability. The £2.3m grant-funding budget, used to fund 17 different services, has decreased over the years. 

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