As Unsheltered Homelessness Reaches Unprecedented Levels in the UK, Policymakers Turn to Criminalization Instead of Compassionate Solutions
Criminalizing homelessness is increasingly becoming a global response to rough sleeping. Discover why this approach is harmful—and how we can advocate for compassionate solutions to challenge the damaging international narrative.
The cold, hard streets are quickly becoming a place of residence for far too many people worldwide. In the UK, unsheltered homelessness, a type of homelessness wherein people sleep outside or in places deemed unfit for human habitation, has reached record highs across the region.
The Big Issue reports that the UK currently has the highest rate of homelessness in the region commonly referred to as the “developed world.” This moniker is attributed to the 40 countries with the most advanced technological infrastructure, and it is also associated with high per capita income levels and comparatively longer life expectancy rates.
“Shamefully, the UK tops the global league table with by far the highest rate of homelessness in the developed world with one in 200 households living in emergency temporary housing,” John Glenton of Riverside Housing Association explained.
Rock Bottom Reaches Record High Through Unsheltered UK Homelessness
According to the most recent available data, it isn’t just the cramped corners of temporary accommodations that cause concern. As emergency accommodations fill to capacity, and more people enter into homelessness than are permanently ushered out of it, an increasing number of people are forced into living on the streets as well.
In England, for example, the rate of homeless people sleeping rough has risen by an alarming 27% in just one year. The problem can no longer be contained in cramped quarters or confined to the local bedsits. The affordable living crisis is, effectively and literally, spilling out onto the streets.
Criminalization: The Horrifying Global Response to Visible Homelessness
Anytime we witness a spike in the number of people seeking shelter outdoors on street corners, park benches, or in rundown vehicles, the public cries out for their local leaders to take immediate action and rectify the problem.
In the bygone era of Housing First, that call to action sometimes came in the form of affordable housing and services. However, as politicians in the US push template legislation that prioritizes imprisonment over permanent supportive housing, other places, like the UK, are following suit.
This further proves that people in positions of power have no interest in presenting any real solutions to the ongoing crisis. Why would anyone refer to the US’ punitive approach to homelessness as an applicable blueprint when, despite billions of dollars in funding, more than 653,000 people have been spotted sleeping outside or in shelters on any blustery winter night in that country?
In 2022, the US saw a steep rise in anti-homeless legislation, from stricter laws to stricter enforcement. Some states even pushed to make public camping a felony for the first time in the country’s history. And to what end?
Well, that same year, American homelessness increased by an astonishing 12%, and cities shelled out millions of dollars to destroy and dismantle both people and things. In the end, the main thing they wound up breaking was the bank.
PBS So Cal reports that the city of LA spent $3 million clearing homeless encampments and wound up permanently housing just two people. That’s two people—not 20, not 200, but two people permanently housed for the bargain price of $3 million.
Criminalization is the most cruel, least cost-effective way to tackle the housing crisis. Still, it appears to be every politician’s favorite answer.
Enter the 1824 Vagrancy Act, An Ancient Piece of Legislation Still Criminalizing Poor People
As the number of rough sleepers vastly increases and heightened awareness of homelessness is being raised by way of visibility, UK legislators are cracking down… not on the corporations doling out pay freezes while simultaneously raising the rents, but on the growing number of people being pushed out onto the streets by way of corporate greed.
An ancient law initially passed back in 1824 has been used to arrest almost 200 homeless people in London alone, with new versions of the legislation presumed to be afoot.
The fact that this law is 200 years old and yet we still find a use for it speaks volumes about the lack of progress that has been made regarding homelessness over the past two centuries. Advocates have been highly critical of the push to criminalize vulnerable populations. But in an exclusive interview with Invisible People reporters, The National Homelessness Law Center’s Criminalization Director, Will Knight, alluded to the fact that politicians seek to make the social ill of homelessness look like a personal flaw on behalf of all homeless people.
“As UK politicians adopt the approach of some US cities and states to punish homelessness, they signal to voters that this is a public disorder issue rather than a complex social problem needing comprehensive solutions,” Knight said. “This perspective leads to policies that favor punitive measures over supportive interventions, straining public resources and diverting funds from essential long-term solutions like affordable housing and mental health services.”
Only Housing Can End Homelessness. Remind Your Legislators.
Criminalizing homelessness is harmful because it creates a vicious cycle that vastly increases the issue instead of solving it. Funding that could be allocated toward bailing the everyday people out of this affordability crisis is instead pumped into destroying the lives of those who are already unhoused and the families and individuals still straddling the lines of poverty.
Fortunately, fighting back is still an option. Politicians are still prioritizing the loudest voices in the room. Let that voice be yours. Contact your local legislators and demand the human right to housing now.