Is this the solution to Bristol’s homelessness crisis?

In November 2015 a petition was started calling on the council to open up empty buildings to deal with the increasing numbers of homeless people sleeping rough in Bristol.

It was a time when tents were popping up in parks and rough sleepers were congregating in ever greater numbers in underpasses and doorways as the effects of the housing crisis and changes to benefits systems began to bite.

More than 12,000 people ended up signing the petition online which was eventually delivered to the then-mayor George Ferguson as concern grew that the city was experiencing its biggest homelessness crisis in decades.

Then all went silent.

Now, almost a year on, Bristol24/7 has had an exclusive look around a new scheme, Guardianship, which is throwing open the doors of unused council buildings for those who have fallen on hard times and ended up on the street.

Five buildings so far have been temporarily handed over by City Hall to St Mungo’s, a homeless charity which runs night shelters and emergency accommodation across the city.

With minimal maintenance work, the charity has converted three unused buildings so far to offer low rent rooms with shared kitchens and bathrooms as a stepping stone for rough sleepers to find themselves a secure tenancy.

Now they are preparing to open two more, with a view to spreading the scheme further with the help of local housing associations.

Current estimates suggest there are 97 people in Bristol sleeping rough each night. But there are only 70 bed spaces in emergency night shelters.

So far, the three operating Guardianship homes, of which the addresses are kept private, have provided an extra 13 beds. Two more on the horizon – one in Hengrove and one in Withywood – will bring the total to 28.

Gareth Mercer, St Mungo’s shelter co-ordinator, gave Bristol24/7 a short tour around a former community centre due to open in Withywood:

The buildings are lent to St Mungo’s for free on a temporary basis, and on the condition that it is returned in a similar state when the council wants it back. St Mungo’s pays for any maintenance and fills the rooms with basic furniture.

Homeless people who don’t have complex issues like drug addiction who come to St Mungo’s for help are then referred to the new rooms.

The rent is set at £67.37 per week, the same as the Local Housing Allowance given as state benefit for private renters by Bristol City Council, plus a £10 maintenance fee. The money is used by St Mungo’s to cover costs for setting up and expanding the scheme.

Samay Samah, 44, lives in one of the Guardianship homes near Old Market. He was served notice to leave his former one-bedroom flat in Fishponds after the landlord put the rent up.

Originally from Algeria, he came to the Uk in 2000 with his wife who died of cancer two years later at the age of 30. After being kicked out of his Fishponds flat he ended up homeless with nowhere to go.

“The landlord just told me he needed more money. I was only working two days a week at the time and so I had no choice. After that I was on the street for one month and 20 days, mostly around the Trinity Road police station,” the security guard said.

“I had some small savings, but it went in a few weeks. I was taken to St Mungo’s eventually, and they found me a room.”

David Ingerslev, the charity’s manager of the rough sleepers service, said the scheme fills a void left by the fast disappearing low-end accommodation in Bristol.

“What’s become apparent as house prices rise and people gamble on the investments is the low-cost market has all but disappeared.

“What this scheme does is help people who were made homeless for whatever reason get on their feet again for a temporary period – ideally for a small number of months so people can find work and move on to their own place.

He said underlying problems like Government adjustments to housing benefits, low housing supply and distorted housing allowance rates means homelessness is unlikely to disappear.

But he added: “This is already making a dent. It goes some way at least to addressing one piece of the puzzle.”

The scheme was made possible following good will from the council which began under George Ferguson’s time in office. The approach and willingness to tackle homelessness was then “reinvigorated” by the new Labour administration led by mayor Marvin Rees.

Councillor Paul Smith, cabinet member for housing, said he was delighted to see another two buildings being opened up to offer people a route off the streets. 

“No one should be forced to sleep rough, and these buildings can make a real difference and allow people to get back on their feet,” he said.

Ingerslev added that the petition last year showed the level of public support for solving the homelessness crisis. But he added: “I think people are right: change is needed. But it takes a lot of time, will and effort to do something like this. It takes a lot to make an abandoned building habitable and safe.

“If you think about it, 12,000 people signed that petition, but if half got involved with making changes like volunteering or writing to the MPs we could do a whole lot more.”

Read more: What tents in Bristol mean for homelessness