'No Improvement' In Homelessness Problem

Wednesday, 21 February 2024 08:30

Data collected from Jersey's five shelters show 406 people sought accommodation in 2023.

Violence in the home, relationship breakdowns and unsafe or insecure housing were the three most common reasons for people seeking shelter last year. Eviction was a close fourth.

The highest need came in the second quarter of 2023, when 226 people were sheltered, and 14 were turned away because the hostels were full.

70% of residents were male, 90% were at working age, and four in five had entitled status to live and work in Jersey.

In October last year, Homelessness Jersey described the problem as a 'ticking time bomb'.

The 2023 data has been compiled by the Jersey Homelessness Strategic Board.

It has urged the government to implement its 2020 recommendations in full.

“Defining homelessness and then evidencing its scale and nature were the first two recommendations of the Board’s 2020 Homelessness Strategy.

Without collating this information on an ongoing basis, the Government will only be second-guessing as to the steps needed to tackle the issues and this will prevent the homelessness strategy being implemented in full." - Simon Burgess, independent Chair of the Jersey Homelessness Strategic Board.

The new Housing Minister, Deputy Sam Mezec, has said he is committed to implementing all of the recommendations of the homelessness strategy