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Older homeless people
This page is about the issues for older homeless people. Many older people continue to sleep rough or suffer from being trapped in poor, insecure and inappropriate accommodation. People also become homeless in later life often as a result of a combination of factors, bereavement, ill health, poverty or substance misuse. Older people over 50 are the most adversely affected by homelessness in relation to both physical and mental health, yet paradoxically they often face the greatest difficulties in gaining access to vital services. The needs of older people are often ignored because their experience of homelessness is less visible than other groups and they lack the voice and representation required to highlight their specific interests and issues.
What’s new?
- Findings from our Survey of Needs and Provision related to older people and care services , including the proportion of older people (over 50) in homelessness services surveyed.
- The COHP has developed a methodology that can be used by local authorities to audit the numbers and support needs of older homeless people they have living in hostels or in contact with street teams in their area. The methodology is very simple. It is web based and involves provider organisations filling in a simple form for each user over the age of fifty in their service in a particular week. The information then comes back to Homeless Link and we will do the analysis and provide the authority with a report on the numbers and support needs in this population. This information can then be fed into a local older people’s housing strategy and into their local homelessness strategy. The findings of the audits can be used by the Coalition on Older Homelessness to raise awareness and campaign to get the issue of specialist housing provision for older homeless people onto local, regional and national agendas.The Coalition on Older Homelessness Project from Homeless Link and local authorities and homeless sector agencies in Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton,Westminster and Blackburn have carried out the audit of their older homeless population. Read the summary report of the results from those authorities here.
- Prevention is high on the social policy agenda. The 19 Projects that are the first round of Partnership for Older People Pilots (POPPs) are working to improve the independence and well being of older people and prevent avoidable hospital admissions. This paper from the Coalition on Older Homelessness explores how homelessness prevention and housing support can be raised higher on that agenda. Its recommendations are also generally applicable to anyone working. with vulnerable older people. Preventing homelessness in the older population
- The Social Exclusion unit's report A Sure Start to Later Life has recognised some of the specific needs of older homeless people and supported calls for improved discharge of homeless people from hospital, intermediate care services for homeless people and more specialised accommodation. Read our press release
UK Coalition on Older Homelessness
This is a Homeless Link project concerned with raising awareness of older homeless people and improving services to meet their needs. Any organisation or individual working with older homeless people and interested in our aims can join the Coalition, receive our mailings and attend meetings.
Go to the COHP pages of the Homeless Link website to download minutes of meetings and dates and agendas of future meetings.
The Coalition website has a news section which has updates on policy news relevant to older homeless people and copies of any responses the Coalition has made to government policies.
Facts and figures
The UK Coalition on Older Homelessness estimates that there are 42,000 older homeless people in England and Wales. Around half of that number are "hidden homeless", living in overcrowded accommodation where they do not have any rights. Approximately 5,000 are in temporary hostel accommodation. Older people, particularly those with complex needs, can end up living in hostels over a long period because of a lack of suitable move-on accommodation. For information on the breakdown of these figures see the UK Coalition on Older Homelessness report Coming of Age.
Projects for older homeless people
There are a small number of projects specifically aiming to meet the needs of older homeless people and many others where older people are a part of the generic client group but there may be specific services aimed at them. The Practice section of the Coalition website contains project descriptions of day centres, supported accommodation etc around the country working with this client group.
Link Age Plus is a government programme that tests out the Sure Start approach in eight areas in England. The areas are: Devon County Council; Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council; Gloucestershire County Council; Lancaster City Council; Leeds City Council; London Borough of Tower Hamlets; Nottinghamshire County Council; Salford City Council.
For more information on older homelessness, contact sarah.gorton@homelesslink.org.uk. or search for pages on older homelessness on the Homeless Link website.