There is a piece in today’s Guardian about the risk of homelessness not only increasing but spreading to the middle classes.  This is blamed on the economic downturn and government cuts but I imagine that rising inflation, especially in the prices of gas, electricity, petrol and fares would just make it worse – unless that all comes under the umbrella of ‘economic downturn’ .  If mortgage rates start to rise before everthing gets better that would just make it a perfect storm.

The local aspect of this is that the story includes reference to a Channel 4 News report which claims that homelessness is being underestimated.  It says:

In Crawley, West Sussex, the Open House hostel said it turned away people needing a bed almost 2,000 times last year, although official figures estimate there are just seven homeless people in the town.

It is all doom and gloom, but I’m glad to see the issue of the so-called ‘hidden homeless’ getting more publicity, even though it is hardly a new phenomenon. It was a term being bandied around back when I was on the council, and the real problem with it is that, almost by definition, it is not easy to count.

One problem is that a family of three all living together in a friend’s spare bedroom are not officially homeless but just ‘overcrowded’ which doesn’t sound too bad but must be bloody awful and unlike people sleeping in parks and doorways they can’t be seen by driving around town, so the official homeless figures for the town are likely to remain nearer to seven for the time being.