:00:00. > :00:09.Tonight, the homelessness epidemic sweeping across our cities.
:00:10. > :00:12.I join the street doctor helping those sleeping rough.
:00:13. > :00:25.Rachel Stonehouse heads to Finland in the search for solutions.
:00:26. > :00:28.If you are at rock bottom, you are really at rock bottom,
:00:29. > :00:32.And I met the ex-squatter creating new homes out
:00:33. > :00:37.Any country or area in the world should be able to house its own
:00:38. > :00:53.You would have to be living on them moon not
:00:54. > :00:57.to notice that there are more people sleeping rough.
:00:58. > :00:59.Here, in Gloucester, they are convinced that the answer
:01:00. > :01:13.Well, I got up at the crack of dawn to see the other side of the story.
:01:14. > :01:17.We walk pass rough sleepers on our high street every day.
:01:18. > :01:28.I mean, here, there will be six people sleeping rough.
:01:29. > :01:34.So, what is the real scale of the problem?
:01:35. > :01:53.This GP in Gloucester has worked with the homeless
:01:54. > :01:57.Once a week, he swaps his surgical gloves for a fleecey pair and goes
:01:58. > :02:04.Well, we will start by going through the centre of town and see
:02:05. > :02:07.Are their tents in the park, or in the disused garages
:02:08. > :02:11.If there are any health issues that people have,
:02:12. > :02:13.they can come and see me at the homeless clinic
:02:14. > :02:17.I am surprised when we head to a location I know well.
:02:18. > :02:19.A shopping centre car park right in the city centre.
:02:20. > :02:22.Is this a good place for them to hide out?
:02:23. > :02:27.There are few places where you can conceal yourself.
:02:28. > :02:28.Normally they will sleep behind the ticket machines
:02:29. > :02:33.So, unless you know where to look, you can walk past without
:02:34. > :02:39.Because you have got the slight warmth of the ducting blowing down
:02:40. > :02:44.This car park offers all sorts of places to hide away.
:02:45. > :02:51.They usually have to leave here about six, you can see
:02:52. > :02:56.Minus four at ten to six in the morning.
:02:57. > :03:00.At least we have some shelter here from the rain but it is not
:03:01. > :03:02.great on the concrete base, of course.
:03:03. > :03:18.John is sleeing in a small tent with his partner and their dog.
:03:19. > :03:21.So, are you getting hassle from the council, or...?
:03:22. > :03:25.The police and the council, like, even during the day and in town.
:03:26. > :03:27.You're not allowed to leave your stuff anywhere.
:03:28. > :03:33.You got to start with nothing again and in weather like this,
:03:34. > :03:43.You have just got to put up with it, haven't you?
:03:44. > :03:48.Have you been moving from place to place?
:03:49. > :03:51.We have been here for about two weeks, but they have said
:03:52. > :03:53.if we do not move our stuff by 11 o'clock today,
:03:54. > :03:59.So I have got to find somewhere else to go.
:04:00. > :04:04.I do not know, just find somewhere else.
:04:05. > :04:11.The council reckon that there are no homeless people in Gloucester.
:04:12. > :04:18.But I cannot see how they can say that when people are on the streets.
:04:19. > :04:20.What strikes me about them is that they are just kind
:04:21. > :04:23.of stuck in this cycle that they are going to
:04:24. > :04:33.Their future is from one day to the next in terms of where
:04:34. > :04:36.on earth are they going to find somewhere that is safe
:04:37. > :04:38.but they are not going to be persecuted, attacked,
:04:39. > :04:41.robbed or have their belongings taken away by the council?
:04:42. > :04:42.Alan says homelessness is increasing in Gloucester,
:04:43. > :04:46.Are you going to come down to the breakfast club
:04:47. > :04:52.We have asked him to keep a diary of the number of rough sleepers
:04:53. > :05:15.I think you will find one of us frozen soon, it is that cold.
:05:16. > :05:18.It is OK outside in the month of May and June,
:05:19. > :05:21.you can get away with it, but not now, you need to be indoors.
:05:22. > :05:24.Gloucester City Council has recently tried to reduce
:05:25. > :05:26.begging on the streets with tougher punishments.
:05:27. > :05:29.The Safer Streets scheme also tries to discourage the public from buying
:05:30. > :05:33.We see people spending their money on drugs quite a lot
:05:34. > :05:36.of the time and unfortunately, when well-meaning people give
:05:37. > :05:39.food instead of money, that just frees up the money that
:05:40. > :05:42.people would have spent on food that they can now spend on drugs.
:05:43. > :05:44.There used to be a 21-bed emergency night shelter in Gloucester,
:05:45. > :05:55.Not for a lack of demand, says the mayor who used to run it.
:05:56. > :06:02.The council do not want to have people being homeless in Gloucester,
:06:03. > :06:05.councillors are saying things like the only reason that homeless
:06:06. > :06:07.people come into Gloucester at the moment is that they come
:06:08. > :06:09.here still expecting to find a night shelter.
:06:10. > :06:12.Now, when we were in the process of shutting down, they were saying
:06:13. > :06:15.that the only reason that homeless people came into Gloucester
:06:16. > :06:23.They blamed us then and they blame us now and in my view,
:06:24. > :06:26.it is blaming the messengers for the message.
:06:27. > :06:29.The bottom line is there is simply not enough accommodation.
:06:30. > :06:31.All over Britain, homelessness is increasing, why should
:06:32. > :06:35.It was a big part of your life, wasn't it?
:06:36. > :06:51.20 years of my life trying to do the best I could with what I had...
:06:52. > :07:05.I grew up in Gloucester, but at 6am out with Dr Harris,
:07:06. > :07:14.So, in here there will be possibly up to six people sleeping rough.
:07:15. > :07:21.So, the lady with the bad chest condition will be in there.
:07:22. > :07:40.You must be absolutely frozen, aren't you?
:07:41. > :07:50.I'm a wuss, I'm a wussy Englishman, you're...
:07:51. > :07:55.Bozena is from Poland and her English isn't great.
:07:56. > :07:58.But it is clear her living conditions are not
:07:59. > :08:08.This woman is sitting on her own in their with a chest infection.
:08:09. > :08:13.And it has been like that for 20 years in Gloucester.
:08:14. > :08:14.There is another one like this in Tredworth,
:08:15. > :08:18.there is Brockworth, there are further ones in central
:08:19. > :08:21.We are fighting a losing battle and ultimately,
:08:22. > :08:27.Remember the diary we asked Dr Harris to keep of the number
:08:28. > :08:29.of rough sleepers he came across in one month?
:08:30. > :08:35.Gloucester City Council estimates the number at just 13.
:08:36. > :08:45.Well, I do not think that we are missing
:08:46. > :08:53.Because of the work we do with our partners, we pretty much
:08:54. > :08:55.know everybody that is on the street and their circumstances.
:08:56. > :09:00.We have been out and we have seen people sleeping
:09:01. > :09:09.So, the true figure that you say does not tally with that
:09:10. > :09:11.because you are not actually counting them properly.
:09:12. > :09:14.Well, there probably is an element that we are not aware of because...
:09:15. > :09:19.We can only count the numbers we are aware of and we can only take
:09:20. > :09:22.action to help people who we met and engage with.
:09:23. > :09:25.But I think we're doing that pretty successfully,
:09:26. > :09:27.certainly in terms of those that we see and the concentration
:09:28. > :09:32.But I have seen with my own eyes the real scale of homelessness
:09:33. > :09:36.My time spent with Dr Harris in Gloucester has been just
:09:37. > :09:38.a glimpse of the problem in the West.
:09:39. > :09:40.Homelessness is increasing and I wonder if many of us
:09:41. > :09:43.are in the dark about the reality of how some people
:09:44. > :09:46.closing our curtains and shutting our doors to those
:09:47. > :09:55.Check out our Facebook page to hear more voices from the street.
:09:56. > :10:10.Give homeless people a home, it is what they are doing
:10:11. > :10:12.in Finland, the only country in Europe where homelessness
:10:13. > :10:22.A country known for its cold weather and sparse population.
:10:23. > :10:25.But while there is a noticeable increase in rough sleepers
:10:26. > :10:28.on the streets in the UK, in Finland it is a very
:10:29. > :10:34.We have just walked through a park and we would have expected to see
:10:35. > :10:37.rough sleepers on the benches in the park, and there weren't any.
:10:38. > :10:39.So what is the secret of the country?
:10:40. > :10:54.Lisa Lewis runs a drop-in centre for homeless people
:10:55. > :11:00.Part of her job is helping people find somewhere to sleep.
:11:01. > :11:03.As a female on the streets, they will automatically get
:11:04. > :11:06.you a house somewhere in emergency accommodation.
:11:07. > :11:09.If that does happen and you haven't got anywhere to stay,
:11:10. > :11:13.we can get you over to Julian House in Bath because I don't want
:11:14. > :11:23.It is fine, I have still got another two weeks anyway...
:11:24. > :11:25.The drop-in has seen an increase in rough sleepers and Lisa
:11:26. > :11:29.There are so many different facets to it.
:11:30. > :11:31.You have a whole issue about putting people
:11:32. > :11:32.into emergency accommodation, which does not work
:11:33. > :11:40.You have the issue of not having enough housing
:11:41. > :11:45.available, so there is not enough accommodation available.
:11:46. > :11:48.You then have issues with the fact that all of the support services
:11:49. > :11:57.are underfunded and having budgets cut and that is right
:11:58. > :11:59.across the board, so that is mental health, physical health,
:12:00. > :12:01.drugs and alcohol, it is really important that you get
:12:02. > :12:04.all of the services able to help someone from the very beginning
:12:05. > :12:07.and that is where we are failing because those services are not
:12:08. > :12:09.always available or there is a waiting list.
:12:10. > :12:14.Finland has a different approach and it seems to be working.
:12:15. > :12:18.Lisa has agreed to travel there with me to find out what it is,
:12:19. > :12:21.but after a decade working on a broken system, she is cynical.
:12:22. > :12:23.When somebody turns around and tells you there are no rough
:12:24. > :12:25.slepers in Helsinki, you are like, "yes, right!"
:12:26. > :12:28.But then there is a little bit of you that thinks,
:12:29. > :12:31.Since the 1980s, homelessness has been steadily decreasing here,
:12:32. > :12:35.Give people who are homeless a permanent home, rather
:12:36. > :12:39.Unlike the UK, emergency accommodation is a thing
:12:40. > :12:44.of the past, there is now just one hostel in the whole country.
:12:45. > :12:52.We have come to an area on the outskirts of Helsinki to find
:12:53. > :12:55.out more about supported housing, specifically for young people.
:12:56. > :12:58.So, this is, like, the communal area?
:12:59. > :13:09.One of the reasons Fernando likes this place is it is a dry house.
:13:10. > :13:17.It is annoying to see all of the drugs in the place you live in.
:13:18. > :13:19.You do not want that in your own house, do you?
:13:20. > :13:33.There is on-site help here for drug and alcohol
:13:34. > :13:36.addiction as well as a sauna, a gym, and laundry facilities.
:13:37. > :13:48.It is nice that you have got the rugs and things like that.
:13:49. > :13:57.You cannot focus on anything if you do not have an apartment
:13:58. > :13:59.because you cannot work, where do you sleep?
:14:00. > :14:08.Here, there is no limit on how long people can stay for.
:14:09. > :14:12.Back in Helsinki, there are a number of large,
:14:13. > :14:16.old apartment blocks and while they might not be
:14:17. > :14:18.as swanky, they provide homes for those in need.
:14:19. > :14:20.How long were you sleeping on the streets for?
:14:21. > :14:29.Why do you think that this accommodation is better
:14:30. > :14:37.than the previous shelters that you were in?
:14:38. > :14:41.When he was outside and there was a lot of shelters that time,
:14:42. > :14:48.you could not go there if you had been drinking and a lot of people
:14:49. > :14:56.of people who stay outside, they drink because it is
:14:57. > :15:00.Here, you must take responsibility for your drinking
:15:01. > :15:09.And here, you get support, of course, but he has said he does
:15:10. > :15:11.not drink because he does not have to.
:15:12. > :15:15.Walking around at night, it is visibly different to the UK.
:15:16. > :15:19.Areas of the city where you might expect to see rough sleepers,
:15:20. > :15:22.So, Lisa, what d'you think about what you have seen so far?
:15:23. > :15:24.It has been a bit mind-blowing, actually.
:15:25. > :15:29.Everything in the UK is so in the now or in
:15:30. > :15:46.The greatest period of time is the next two years.
:15:47. > :15:49.Let us talk about the visibility in Helsinki of rough sleepers.
:15:50. > :15:57.Would you say before you came here that you were sceptical
:15:58. > :16:01.that this idea that they were no rough sleepers was a bit of a myth?
:16:02. > :16:05.I mean, you do not want to be cynical, but there is that bit
:16:06. > :16:09.In the UK, you will never get a proper representation of how many
:16:10. > :16:11.people are rough sleeping on any one night.
:16:12. > :16:14.So when someone turns around and tells you that they do not have
:16:15. > :16:17.any rough sleepers in Helsinki, you think, "yes, right!"
:16:18. > :16:20.But then there is another bit that says, "let's go and find them".
:16:21. > :16:22.But actually, we haven't seen anyone bedded down,
:16:23. > :16:24.and that is kind of, like, that is really surprising.
:16:25. > :16:26.Despite searching, we have not seen anyone who is street
:16:27. > :16:29.homeless the whole time that we have been here.
:16:30. > :16:32.And across the whole country, there are now only a few hundred
:16:33. > :16:33.rough sleepers compared to the thousands
:16:34. > :16:37.To find out more about how this change has happened,
:16:38. > :16:39.we have come to the headquarters of the Y-Foundation,
:16:40. > :16:42.This is our office, we have around 80 co-workers working here.
:16:43. > :16:45.Some of the staff have also been homeless.
:16:46. > :16:50.How did you come to get housing with the Y-Foundation?
:16:51. > :16:54.Housing, because I have some issues like the mental ones
:16:55. > :17:01.and the social and financial ones, and I could not provide
:17:02. > :17:04.the house-rented flat for me, for myself and I needed help.
:17:05. > :17:17.There are days when I am like, one more coffee cup and I am going to...
:17:18. > :17:22.It is helping people and I can see it, because when someone is coming
:17:23. > :17:26.on the other side of the desk, like, they have just got the house
:17:27. > :17:29.and they are going to get the keys from me on the desk,
:17:30. > :17:32.I can say to that person, I know how you feel.
:17:33. > :17:35.If you are at rock bottom, you are really at rock bottom,
:17:36. > :17:41.But it is about having that first chance.
:17:42. > :17:51.She never had to sleep on the streets or stay in a hostel,
:17:52. > :17:53.something the Y-Foundation has worked hard to avoid.
:17:54. > :17:55.Hostels have been converted into apartments and private rental
:17:56. > :17:57.properties have been bought up for social housing.
:17:58. > :18:00.It means people are instead trusted with rental contracts to help give
:18:01. > :18:04.them stability and a place to call home.
:18:05. > :18:07.What are your thoughts on homelessness back in the UK?
:18:08. > :18:10.The situation seems to be quite terrible.
:18:11. > :18:13.If you do not have the political will, it is very difficult
:18:14. > :18:21.for individuals and individual organisations to do a proper shop.
:18:22. > :18:25.Do you think that the Finnish model can be adopted in the UK?
:18:26. > :18:33.Of course, the landscape of the problem is very different,
:18:34. > :18:36.but the structure of the problem is similar and the
:18:37. > :18:43.We know that there are things that really work, we know that people
:18:44. > :18:48.need affordable housing and we know that to solve homelessness
:18:49. > :18:57.you simply also have to build new houses, new homes.
:18:58. > :19:00.As our time in Finland draws to a close, it is clear the mindset
:19:01. > :19:07.Is there anything about the approach here that you think
:19:08. > :19:13.It will take some really brave people to set up pilot projects
:19:14. > :19:16.with a specific proper formal model and run it actually as a pilot
:19:17. > :19:19.project and prove that it works and then get the backing
:19:20. > :19:21.so that it is rolled out across the country.
:19:22. > :19:25.Because what will happen is that it will come back and they will say,
:19:26. > :19:33.And that's what he said, it is not about the money.
:19:34. > :19:36.Because actually the money that you are spending on other things can
:19:37. > :19:38.be taken away from that and used towards this.
:19:39. > :19:41.Because in the long run, actually, it will save money.
:19:42. > :19:44.But in the UK, do we have the belief that people can overcome
:19:45. > :19:49.One expression we heard during our time here -
:19:50. > :20:03."no one has yet failed in the future."
:20:04. > :20:06.So that is one way to solve homelessness, build more homes.
:20:07. > :20:22.But why do that when there are thousands of buildings
:20:23. > :20:23.across the region already lying empty?
:20:24. > :20:25.This is Decourcy House in St Pauls, Bristol.
:20:26. > :20:28.I first came here in 2015 when the police were evicting
:20:29. > :20:31.The conditions that people were living in were shocking.
:20:32. > :20:33.I have to tell you, the smell here is unbearable.
:20:34. > :20:37.It is cluttered with lots of debris from all over the place and these
:20:38. > :20:39.corridors move off the smaller rooms that have about three
:20:40. > :20:49.The building had already been empty for several years and guess what,
:20:50. > :20:50.almost 18 months later, I was last here,
:20:51. > :20:55.And it is not only this building, just around the corner,
:20:56. > :20:57.a whole street has been boarded up for years.
:20:58. > :21:00.Across the city, there are more than 800 empty commercial buildings
:21:01. > :21:02.and almost 900 homes have been empty long-term.
:21:03. > :21:17.Could we be making better use of these buildings?
:21:18. > :21:22.I heard about a group of people determined to change this situation.
:21:23. > :21:33.We are interested in taking over derelict buildings,
:21:34. > :21:38.usually office or industrial buildings and turning them
:21:39. > :21:41.into houses for people who otherwise find it very difficult to get
:21:42. > :21:43.onto the housing ladder, perhaps even going homeless.
:21:44. > :21:45.Did you find yourself in that situation in the past?
:21:46. > :21:48.Yes, I did, about 20 years ago I found it very difficult
:21:49. > :21:51.to find anywhere to live and I was in a squat
:21:52. > :21:54.And that seems to have continued for other people,
:21:55. > :21:55.nothing has got better, in your opinion?
:21:56. > :21:58.Unfortunately, the situation seems to have got much worse.
:21:59. > :22:01.Tell me about this site, what will it turn into
:22:02. > :22:05.We hope to be able to house at least ten people here,
:22:06. > :22:09.just a drop in the ocean at the moment, but it is a start.
:22:10. > :22:11.The other thing that is important is that it will show
:22:12. > :22:15.What is your ultimate dream with all of this?
:22:16. > :22:18.Well, I think the main thing is that this starts a programme
:22:19. > :22:21.going of housing people, which this country seems to have
:22:22. > :22:24.been shamefully ignoring for the last 20 plus years.
:22:25. > :22:28.To me, it is basic, any region, country or area in the world should
:22:29. > :22:35.be able to house its own people if it has any self-respect.
:22:36. > :22:37.According to government figures, there are more than 1,000
:22:38. > :22:42.Last year, Virginia and her five-year old son Michael became
:22:43. > :22:52.I dropped Michael off at nursery, went to the council office just
:22:53. > :22:55.with a bag of stuff and said, "hello, we are homeless"
:22:56. > :23:01.and we have been in emergency accommodation since then.
:23:02. > :23:23.How are you? Thank you very much. This is not bad. We are lucky. But
:23:24. > :23:26.the thing is, we could be moved any time. There is no guarantee that we
:23:27. > :23:31.would have been able to stay here. She said we could be moved at 24
:23:32. > :23:37.hours notice. It is the insecurity of not knowing. How is your son
:23:38. > :23:46.coping? Has behaviour is tricky to begin with. He is unsettled, it is
:23:47. > :23:53.difficult for him. Good. I am always settled, you naughty women! We're
:23:54. > :23:59.not meant to have guests here, so we cannot have friends around. That is
:24:00. > :24:06.hard. Yes. For a long period, that is really difficult. How did you
:24:07. > :24:10.come to be here? We had been living in a rented house for the last five
:24:11. > :24:14.years, unfortunately, the landlady decided that she needed to sell the
:24:15. > :24:19.house. I looked for somewhere else to live. I am working three days
:24:20. > :24:23.each week and at the moment the rent is subsidised by housing benefits. I
:24:24. > :24:28.had a landlord reference and an employer reference and I have never
:24:29. > :24:31.defaulted on rent in my life. But they just said no, as soon as they
:24:32. > :24:38.discover that you have housing benefit. What has been homeless men
:24:39. > :24:42.to you? Not being able to make a place your own, not knowing if you
:24:43. > :24:45.are going to be able to stay there long term. Not being able to engage
:24:46. > :24:50.in your local community, I think that is huge. All of those things
:24:51. > :25:00.are really a huge part of being stable and being normal and being a
:25:01. > :25:02.part of society. When you cannot do those basic things, people do not
:25:03. > :25:05.appreciate how difficult and how stressful and how disruptive that
:25:06. > :25:09.is. Back at the building site, the timber-framed extension has been
:25:10. > :25:13.added. This building will only house a tiny fraction of Bristol's
:25:14. > :25:19.homeless population, but remember, our research has revealed there are
:25:20. > :25:24.835 commercial properties within the city. Other regions have similar
:25:25. > :25:28.numbers. More than 7000 in total. On top of that, there are more than
:25:29. > :25:37.8000 homes that have been empty for six months or more. If the building
:25:38. > :25:42.is almost finished. Virginia has been selected as one of the lucky
:25:43. > :25:47.ten residents. This will be her two-bedroom flat, complete with
:25:48. > :25:53.balcony. It is going to cost ?695 each month. That includes a service
:25:54. > :25:57.charge and free Wi-Fi. There is also off street parking, communal laundry
:25:58. > :26:15.facilities and a common room with a shared garden. It is time to start
:26:16. > :26:21.moving her stuff in. Kitchen stuff... I just really think that a
:26:22. > :26:29.lot of the stuff will not fit into the flat. Yes, there is no way there
:26:30. > :26:36.will be room for all of this stuff. The other thing about rented places,
:26:37. > :26:40.each time you furnish it, then you have to move again and the furniture
:26:41. > :26:54.does not fit the next place, it is a real pain. You OK?
:26:55. > :27:02.Bristol's Cabinet member for housing is invited to make the official
:27:03. > :27:06.snack. No jokes about council cuts! I am so proud of the people who have
:27:07. > :27:10.done this. I really hope that next time we cut the ribbon on one of
:27:11. > :27:16.these, I can say, yes, the council did support this and help. -- snip.
:27:17. > :27:20.But this time, they did not, this million pound project is being
:27:21. > :27:23.equally funded by a bank loan and the community share offer. This way
:27:24. > :27:29.people who put in money will get a small return on their investment.
:27:30. > :27:34.CHEERING After the ribbon cutting, Michael is
:27:35. > :27:39.forced through the door. A few days ago, I went to see how
:27:40. > :27:48.she is settling in. I have brought her a present. I hope that she likes
:27:49. > :27:55.it! Hello. Hello, Virginia. Thank you. Happy house-warming. Bless you,
:27:56. > :28:01.that is really sweet. Look at this place. Wow! That is really nice,
:28:02. > :28:07.is like a springboard to the future. is like a springboard to the future.
:28:08. > :28:11.Yes, and also, knowing that the rent will always be affordable, we will
:28:12. > :28:15.not suddenly have the rent paid up. It is amazing. It goes to show it
:28:16. > :28:20.can be done. They have managed to build this place that you really
:28:21. > :28:26.high spec and the shareholders will still make some money. So it is
:28:27. > :28:30.completely possible. You can keep up-to-date with what we are up to on
:28:31. > :28:34.Facebook and even take a look behind the scenes. Check this out, this is
:28:35. > :28:47.what it looks like from where I am standing. That is it for this week.
:28:48. > :28:52.Thank you for watching. Good night. Next week, who is living next door?
:28:53. > :28:56.The new face of prostitution in our communities. We actually could not
:28:57. > :28:58.believe that there was a tenant who had decided to run a Thai brothel
:28:59. > :29:01.here.