Spires' support to under 35's
In recent years the number of Young People experiencing homelessness has significantly increased. According to the CHAIN Greater London Bulletin, people aged 18-25 make up 9% of the rough-sleeping population and people aged 26-35 make up 29%. Combined people aged 18-35 represent the larger proportion of people rough-sleeping at 38%.
The reasons for this are varied and can include things like family and relationship breakdowns, bereavements, trauma, mental and physical health issues as well as alcohol misuse and substance dependency issues, or loss of job and unemployment.
However, due to cost of living, spiraling rents and government housing and benefit policies, we are seeing more people under 35, who are disproportionately affected by these policies.
The young people we support are homeless or vulnerably housed, most are receiving benefits, although some have no recourse to public funds, those working are in low paid or insecure jobs. In particular, we are seeing more homeless refugees.
During 2023 Spires started a drop-in for refugees at risk of homelessness – some have already been evicted from government hotels and are sofa-surfing or rough sleeping. Weekly, we see between 5-7 new people under 35 through this service alone. Typically, they ask for help with language, finding work, understanding rights and navigating benefits/housing.
Spires operates a case management model which includes an assessment to identify immediate and longer-term needs for every young person we support. From our experience and those we support, exiting homelessness requires more than housing – which is why the team also provides support around:
Physical/Mental Health
Financial Resilience
Personal safety
Recovery from addiction
Research from Centrepoint found that the cost to the State of a NEET, aged between 18-24 was £7,200 a year, this rose to £19,400 where the person was also homeless. Early intervention is not only lifesaving; it can result in significant cost savings.
Over the past year Spires has supported 820 people across all its services, of the 465 cases where the age was known, 157 were under 35 (34%). Within this group 51 under 25 (11%)[HF1]
Spires has supported 157 people aged under 35 to achieve the following outcomes:
Housing – 119 people supported with general housing issues
Pre-emptive tenancy sustainment/ Eviction avoided – 6 people supported
Streetlink – 51 people supported to make a referral
Supported into Hostel/TA – 29 people
Supported into private rental sector (PRS) – 4 people
Supported into other housing options – 30 people
Supported into winter night shelter (WNS) – 3 people since November 2024
Health – 35 people were supported with general health issues
Supported to attend appointments – 12 attendances
Supported to engage with START Mental Health Team – 7 people
Supported to register with a GP – 8 people
Legal – 11 people supported to address legal issues (advice, immigration status, ID/formal documents)
Money – 28 people supported with general money issues
Supported to start/maintain benefits – 24 people
Work/training – 9 people supported with work, training and/or volunteer opportunities.
Marcel “I’m so glad I found Spires. I didn’t understand how the systems worked here, everything is so confusing, Spires gave me hope again” Marcel, 23 yr old refugee from Sudan (name changed for anonymity)
M was sleeping rough and visited our drop-in service looking for help. During his assessment he revealed he had been trafficked from Sudan as a child and brought to the UK aged 17. He was now 23 and had refugee status. He had been supported by social services but lost his last accommodation after a confusion around his Universal Credit entitlement.
He had been studying and wanted to get back into education to complete his electrician course which he had to stop since becoming homeless. During the assessment we also identified complex mental and physical health issues.
M needed support to ensure the legal duty owed to him was honoured. This was due to his being trafficked from Sudan as a 17 year unaccompanied child. He was social services in one Local Authority, but placed in Foster Care in another Local Authority and then moved to shared accommodation. Whilst the first LA held the care duty for him, the second was where he had lived and could show local connection. Spires helped M to liaise with the LAs and to advocate on his behalf, this included finding a community care solicitor to challenge the Local Authority relief duty decision.
M was assessed and placed on the second local authority’s housing register to bid as a priority. He is now bidding weekly, whilst on the pathway for private rental sector (PRS). M was also successful in deferring his place for his electrician’s course and is due to resume studies later this year
David
· David is 31 and was rough-sleeping when he first started to visit Spires in February.
· During his initial visit to Spires a Streetlink outreach referral was made, which is the first step in getting someone verified as rough sleeping. At first, David was reluctant stay put in one spot and was moving around at night and riding night buses, unfortunately this meant that he could not be found by the outreach team and David spent an extended period out in the cold weather.
· During this time, David accessed Spires’ services daily, arriving for breakfast, using the washing facilities, and getting a change of clothes. Over this period, we were able to build rapport and eventually he agreed to stay in one spot so that he could be verified by outreach. His trust in his caseworker grew and he felt able to disclose that he had to leave the family home following instances of domestic violence.
· With this disclosure we were able to make a referral to Aves housing who provide hostel and semi-independent housing for single homeless people. Knowing David’s background meant that the appropriate support would be given to David including linking in with Respect, an organization that works with male perpetrators of Domestic Violence.
· In March David moved into shared accommodation provided by Aves. David continues to engage with Spires who have been able to support him with practicalities including DWP claims. From time-to-time David will drop in for emotional support as he says Spires is somewhere he can come and talk about his issues openly without feeing judged.