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The States has been encouraged to be more proactive in combatting homelessness by a new charity, emulating similar initiatives in Jersey.
The Guernsey Community Foundation has launched At Home in Guernsey to offer practical support to those either without a home or a risk of becoming homeless, with financial backing from Specsavers.
It plans to work with government going forward, with Environment & Infrastructure already planning to legally define homelessness to improve data collection, and recongising the charity as a partner to develop homelessness policies.
When asked by Express what has been learned from Jersey’s approach, Alex Lemon, the Foundation’s research lead, said “they have quite a different setup at a government level.
“They have a homelessness strategy that's been adopted, and government areas very bought into that - they've put an actual budget to it.
But she noted there’s been a slowdown in progress there: “They've been trying to apply their definition and come up with a figure. They got to I think 406 who are living in known emergency and urgent accommodation situations, but they've not been able to apply their definition adequately beyond that. It is a very complex thing.
Jersey’s Government recently came under fire for failing to produce statutory data on the issue fast enough by an independent chair. Data gathered from organisations showed 406 people sought shelter in 2023.
The latest data in Guernsey suggested around 1,000 people are insecurely housed as of 2021.
Listen: An Express Explainer on the new charity.
“But having that kind of structure and buy in is really, really helpful. I think that needs to happen here. But they do have a very different setup of much more dedicated homelessness accommodation,” Ms Lemon added.
“If you don't know how many you've got and what situations you're in, then you can't start devising specific policy that is actually going to address people's needs.”
She said Shelter Trust provides around 130 beds, whereas Guernsey’s main emergency housing facility – St Julian’s House – has fewer than 30 beds.
Jersey also has ‘damp houses’, which cater for people experiencing homelessness who have a drug or alcohol dependency, as well as better opportunities to support people moving into independent living. Guernsey has a dry house for people who are in recovery but not a wet house.
Deputies from the Committee for Employment & Social Security, which is responsible for public housing, couldn’t attend the presentation as its weekly meeting was occurring simultaneously.
But other politicians were in attendance, including the President and Vice-President of Policy & Resources, Deputies Lyndon Trott and Heidi Soulsby.
Deputy John Gollop, also a P&R member, expressed hope that a partnership could be formed in future between the charity and the States, with the government “maybe devising a strategy”.
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