Alcohol and drug use remained the main recorded reason for homelessness at the end of last year, newly-released figures have shown.
Housing Minister Sam Mézec’s ‘Homelessness in Jersey‘ reports draw together information from several organisations providing support to vulnerable islanders.
This includes data collected from Freeda – formerly Jersey Women’s Refuge – as well as the Housing Advice Service, Sanctuary Trust, the Shelter Trust, and the Jersey Association of Youth and Friendship.
The key figures at a glance…
The latest quarterly report showed that, between 1 July and 30 September last year, there were 344 service visits by 333 islanders to homeless accommodation and service providers.
Of those service users, nearly three quarters (73%) were men, of which the largest group recorded as homeless by age was 46 to 55 years old. For women this was ‘up to 25‘ years old.
There were 206 islanders living in temporary shelter accommodation for all, or some, of the period.
The report also documented a number of reasons for a person becoming homeless or being at risk of experiencing homelessness, with substance use cited the most often (14%) followed by mental-health problems (11%).
The main reason for homelessness recorded among women was being at risk of, having experienced, or escaping domestic abuse (29% of cases).
Overall, 280 people were classed as being “houseless”, meaning they have a temporary place to sleep, such as institutional or shelter accommodation.
And 45 were classed as living in “insecure housing”, which includes situations where a person is living in an insecure tenancy, under an eviction order, living temporarily with friends or family, or living in a domestic-abuse situation.
There were less than five people people classed as being “roofless”, which includes those sleeping rough.