Pardon Our Enthusiasm: The UK Momentary End To Homelessness That Wasn’t

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staff
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The grizzled face of a chronic homelessness victim
homeless photo by Farhad Sadykov is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Has the familiar face of a street person been missing for a while? A small positive benefit of COVID-19: some chronic homelessness victims have been swept off the streets and into housing.

So where did it come from — all the COVID-19 homelessness good news that actually wasn’t?

Affordablehousingaction.org thought that Everyone In, which directed local councils to provide housing for everyone who was homeless, was a remarkable achievement. What a wonderful example of all that a national government can do when it puts its mind to it: requiring that all of the UK’s homeless population be housed for protection in a pandemic.

Local council response? Equally admirable. Accepting the challenge and rising to the occasion to sweep virtually all people who were homeless off the streets and into protective shelter.

Virtually all? Well, 90% anyway.

Not even that.

Oh.

Read more in The Guardian: Reports of rough sleeping in UK rose sharply during lockdown

Everyone In included people who have been living rough for years. That indeed is praiseworthy. Further, The Guardian reports that some of these habitual rough sleepers have already been moved to permanent housing — also a considerable achievement.