A CHARITY tackling homelessness says the number of people sleeping rough in West Devon and South Hams is likely to increase significantly over the next year.

Figures for the night of Monday-into-Tuesday, November 8/9, show just two people sleeping rough in South Hams and none in West Devon. 

Both local authorities believe the true number of people without a permanent home is likely to be much higher.

But John Hamblin, chief executive of homelessness charity Shekinah says that without huge investment in affordable housing, the area faces a ’homelessness pandemic.’

Every year, councils across the UK take part in a snapshot count of people who are sleeping rough.

The number in South Hams this year is one more than last year. However, there is an overall reduction from 2019 when there were seven rough sleepers in Totnes alone.

Both councils work with agencies such as the police and rough sleeper drop-in centres to calculate the figure, based on verified sightings of people who are sleeping rough or individuals they have strong reason to believe were rough sleeping on the specified night.

Cllr Judy Pearce (Cons, Salcombe and Thurlestone) South Hams District Council executive member for housing said: ’The shortage of accommodation in our area that is at a price that local people can afford has reached crisis point. Sadly, this has also contributed to an increase in people who are sleeping rough this year. We do the count every year to identify any changes locally so we can design our future services to meet local need better.

’However, we know it will not include everyone. Some people who are sleeping rough will never make contact with our housing advice service so it would be very helpful if you let us know of anyone sleeping rough in the South Hams. If you don’t know their name, the place where they are usually found and a brief description would suffice.

"We also realise that there is a huge number of other people in our district who do not have a home but are not sleeping rough - for example, sofa-surfers who are relying of friends and family to get by. As a council, we’re working to increase the number of properties locally available at below market rate to ease this issue.

’We’re committed to making sure everyone has a safe and comfortable roof over their heads. By working closely with other agencies and finding new ways to offer more safe accommodation, we can achieve that. Our ’Housing First’ project takes a holistic approach to offer a full range of support. Working with multiple agencies, this approach finds a suitable long-term home for someone who is homeless. It also significantly increases their chances of keeping the accommodation and making positive life choices.’

Cllr Barry Ratcliffe (Cons, Exbourne) West Devon Borough Council lead member for housing agreed with Cllr Pearce and added: ’It is positive news that we have found no change this year and we still have no one sleeping rough in the borough.’

West Devon also works with other agencies to find safe accommodation and Cllr Ratcliffe insisted, ’The well-being of everyone in our community is at the heart of all our plans.’

But Mr Hamblin, who has been head of Shekinah for almost 20 years, believes the problem of rough sleeping and homelessness is far more severe and complex than is being recognised.  

’As we know rough sleeping is a multi-faceted complex issue,’ he said.

’That said, I do believe we are in the midst of a perfect storm regarding homelessness and rough sleeping. Changes to universal credit, spiralling rent costs, lack of access to health services and the impact of covid have all, in my view led us to where we are today. My/our view is that over the coming 12 months, we will sadly see an increase in both homelessness and rough sleeping. 

’In the areas that we operate and in the 20 years I have worked in the field, I have never known access to accommodation to be such a huge challenge. In some cases, we have no options for people as demand for local accommodation is a lot higher than the current availability.

’Unless there is investment in a large-scale social/affordable house building programme, I see no solutions on the horizon. It really feels that as we work our way out of the covid pandemic, we are walking into a homelessness pandemic which impacts not only on rough sleepers but working families too.

’My final point about areas such as the South Hams is that I have always felt we never really know the true figures of rough sleeping in rural areas. My guess is that they will be a lot higher than we know as the geographical challenges of such areas makes it hard to find everyone.’

In September, South Hams councillors announced they were declaring a housing crisis in the district because of the lack of rented accommodation - available for longer than six months - an excessive rise in house prices due to second homeowners, the conversion of properties to Airbnb’s and people moving into the district since the pandemic.

Councillors in West Devon are also concerned over a lack os housing for local people and are meeting with housing associations to tackle the issue.