‘scared i was going to end up on streets
Like many cities in the UK, the Welsh capital has a serious problem with homelessness. MATT DISCOMBE reports on the true scale of the crisis...
“I WAS scared – I thought I was going to end up on the streets”.
That is how registered blind man Tony Breach remembers the frightening few days in April when he was made homeless.
He had to leave the home in Ely, Cardiff, where he was staying with friends and had to quickly find another roof over his head.
After allegedly telling Tony there was nowhere to go at first, the council placed him in temporary accommodation at Cardiff YMCA – but this wasn’t a suitable place for him as his guide dog found it distressing.
Tony feared he would lose his guide dog in the ordeal but after a couple of nights was given a temporary flat by a housing association.
But Tony, who now lives in a Cadwyn Property in Adamsdown, knows he is one of the lucky ones. He is among more than 4,000 individual people or families applying to Cardiff council for help with homelessness in the space of just one year.
Among those 4,000 households were 465 children – including 50 aged under 12 months old – who were found to be unintentionally homeless.
The council was able to help the majority of these households prevent homelessness.
But in July 344 of the households which applied for help were still homeless while 481 were still threatened with homelessness.
Tony, 43, said: “It certainly upset me quite a lot. It was upsetting because the council were saying there was nowhere for me to go [at first].
“I was really worried that I would end up on the streets. I certainly didn’t want that. It wouldn’t have been fair on my guide dog either.
“I was lucky in the end, definitely. It could have gone the other way – I could have lost my dog over it. I was more concerned with my dog than myself.”
Cadwyn is campaigning to encourage landlords with properties in Cardiff to lease their houses to those most at risk of losing their homes.
Tony said: “I do worry about the situation where landlords won’t take people like myself who are on benefits – even though benefits can be guaranteed money for them. They just don’t accept it, or animals, into the property.”
From June last year to May 2019 a total of 1,702 households applying for help were assessed by Cardiff council as homeless while 2,367 told the council they were threatened with homeless.
Every month 400 new households are added to Cardiff council’s social housing waiting list, which currently has around 8,000 individuals and families.
Housing charity Shelter Cymru said this was a “shocking statistic” said the number of people with housing issues in Cardiff was “appalling”.
Cardiff council said it was facing increased pressure on homelessness and housing services but it was “not overwhelmed”.
Cadwyn has launched The400 campaign to raise awareness of what it calls a “housing crisis in Cardiff” and to encourage landlords to lease their properties with housing associations.
Helen Armstrong, director of Cadwyn, said: “We understand that reducing the risk of homelessness is an issue that requires a multi-dimensional approach.
“Encouraging private landlords to lease properties through housing associations such as Cadwyn is one step towards that goal.”
Of the 2,367 households assessed by Cardiff council as being threatened with homelessness 1,464 were prevented from becoming homeless, while 332 became homeless.
In July 481 households remained threatened with homelessness – the council said it was continuing to work with them to prevent them from becoming homeless.
A further 71 withdrew their requests for help, while the rest either refused an offer of suitable accommodation, failed to cooperate with the council, became ineligible for help, or were found not to be homeless at all.
Of the homeless households applying to the council for help 665 secured accommodation, while 344 were still homeless in July.
A further 469 households withdrew their request for help “very frequently because of loss of contact,” the council said.