By Geoff Davis, Specialist Housing Advisor, Stoke North & Staffordshire Citizens Advice Bureau   Hidden Homelessness If you ask the average person to describe someone who is homeless, then most people would conjure up the image of some poor individual huddled against the cold in a shop doorway. Indeed, street homelessness has received a fair deal of media attention over the last 18 months with many people describing the seemingly inexorable rise in rough sleeping as a national disgrace.  Last year, the government announced a new £100 million Rough Sleepers Strategy with the aim of ending rough sleeping for good. In autumn 2018 there were estimated to be 6,677 people sleeping on the streets but rough sleeping can be seen as merely the tip of the homelessness iceberg.  Homelessness can also include people living in temporary or insecure accommodation, those sofa surfing, squatting, staying with family, living in hotel rooms or motor vehicles. Although the true scale of hidden homelessness is hard to measure, experts believe a “perfect storm” of welfare reforms, a lack of suitable housing and secure work have contributed to a growing number of “hidden homeless”. There is a distinction between those classed as ‘statutory homeless’ individuals or families who have been identified and… Continue Reading