Introduced in 1824, the Vagrancy Act has been used in differing degrees to penalise some of the most vulnerable groups in our society. Though its overall use has decreased since 2014, government data shows there have been 5,718 prosecutions under the act since 2017.
At the same time, informal application of the act has continued to put people off seeking the support they so desperately need. Research we carried out at Crisis showed how enforced interventions on people sleeping rough have made them feel more invisible, ashamed and even undeserving of help. In other words, those already experiencing the most dangerous form of homelessness have become further isolated because of the act.
The cruelty of this has long been recognised, with the Vagrancy Act drawing criticism from important historical figures like William Wilberforce and Winston Churchill. In recent years, charities, politicians, police, lawyers and people with lived experience of homelessness have come together to campaign for its abolition.
Now, more than three years after parliament formally voted to repeal it, the UK government has shown principled leadership by committing to get rid of the Vagrancy Act next spring. This change in law will offer greater protection to the record number of people who have been forced onto the streets.
Shamefully, rough sleeping in England is 91% higher than it was three years ago and more than double than when data collection began in 2010. Through this repeal, we may be witnessing a real change in our approach to rough sleeping, where people are no longer treated like second-class citizens simply because they do not have home.
Unfortunately, some have incorrectly claimed that repealing the Vagrancy Act will lead to more people on the streets and even the emergence of ‘tent cities’ across the UK. In reality, scrapping the act is a step toward ending rough sleeping by encouraging people to seek the support they need, without fear of prosecution, and allowing the government to look at the root causes of rough sleeping instead of reaching for ineffective enforcement.
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This new approach to tackling homelessness is underpinned by promising announcements in the spending review, which saw the chancellor commit to the biggest spending package on affordable housing for a generation. A total of £39 billion will be spent on social and affordable housing over the next ten years, in what could be a game changing moment in tackling Britain’s housing emergency.
If we see the government prioritise the majority of this funding on social rent homes, as it has said it wishes to do, this funding could be springboard for the UK government to be bolder in its strategy for tackling homelessness. In fact, ministers have a once in a generation opportunity to solve the housing crisis once and for all if the right levers are pulled in the upcoming cross-government strategy.
To do this, it must deliver more genuinely affordable housing to support people into safe and stable homes as quickly as possible, moving us away from the over-reliance on temporary accommodation and closer to the 90,000 social homes we need to solve the housing crisis altogether. The need for this cannot be overstated, with a net loss of 180,067 social homes in England over the past ten years and over 1.3 million households currently stuck on waiting lists for a council home.
Ending homelessness also involves preventing it before it happens. Since building new homes will take time, the UK government must unfreeze housing benefit to stop households being pushed out of their homes right now because they cannot afford their rent. It must also strengthen our support systems, so people can be connected to services and stable housing, as well as expand trauma-informed approaches from police and criminal justice services to consider why people are on the streets.
With such high levels of people experiencing homelessness, including more than 160,000 children stuck in temporary accommodation, we cannot risk the gains from this month being squandered.
I am hopeful that both the repeal of the Vagrancy Act and the housing announcements in the spending review are a turning point in our approach to tackling homelessness where we finally address the root causes and don’t treat people like second class citizens simply because they do not have a home.
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We must sustain the right ambition and political will, so that we can deliver a future free from homelessness.
Matt Downie is the chief executive of Crisis.
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