If we can’t agree who counts as homeless, how are we meant to help them?

I was up late last night doing research for a speaking engagement next month.

The central question I kept returning to was: what is hidden homelessness, and why do we apparently need five different definitions before we can decide whether somebody counts?

I came away with two issues that I think deserve far more attention.

First, different authorities, services and researchers are using different definitions of homelessness.

Second, the policy and advice produced by those authorities is often written in language that the people affected by it are least likely to understand.

Who actually counts as homeless?

The Office for National Statistics says there’s no UK-wide definition of hidden homelessness and that the term is used inconsistently.

That isn’t a minor academic disagreement.

Different parts of the system might be talking about rough sleeping, statutory homelessness, sofa surfing, temporary accommodation, concealed households, people sleeping in cars or several overlapping groups.

The same person can count as homeless under one definition, disappear from another set of figures and then fail to recognise themselves in the advice that’s supposed to help them.

I know how important that is because, for much of the time I was homeless, I probably didn’t look homeless.

I had a skilled job. I went to work. I had a car, a phone and camera equipment. Some days I probably looked completely ordinary.

Those things helped me survive homelessness. They didn’t mean I had a home.

When different reports aren’t counting the same people, we can’t honestly compare their figures. We can’t establish the true scale of the problem, judge whether policy is working or plan the services people need.

You can’t design serious help for a population you haven’t clearly and consistently decided to count.

Definitions are necessary. A council making a legal decision, a researcher measuring a population and a charity describing need are doing different jobs.

But definitions should create clarity. They shouldn’t become gates people have to pass through before their housing insecurity is allowed to matter.

When public information isn’t written for the public

The second issue is the language authorities use.

While researching, I read an official explanation of the Decent Homes Standard which expected the reader to understand DHS, HHSRS, Category 1 hazards and Criterion A before explaining which standard applied to which kind of housing.

That language might be technically accurate.

But if you’re living with damp, cold, disrepair or insecure accommodation, it doesn’t clearly tell you whether your home is safe, which rules apply, who’s responsible or what you can do next.

The same problem appears in homelessness advice.

A person shouldn’t need to understand the legal differences between statutory homelessness, being threatened with homelessness, rough sleeping, hidden homelessness, temporary accommodation and a concealed household before deciding whether they’re allowed to ask for help.

Restrictive and technical language makes people self-exclude. If somebody reads official advice and can’t see their situation reflected in it, they may assume it doesn’t apply to them.

The latest English Housing Survey found that, among people who had experienced homelessness but hadn’t contacted their council:

• 32% thought they wouldn’t be eligible for help.

• 11% didn’t know the council offered homelessness support.

• 10% didn’t know how to contact it.

That isn’t just a communications problem. It directly affects whether people reach help at all.

I’m not arguing that policy should be made less accurate. Legal and technical language will sometimes be necessary.

But it should always sit beside a plain-English explanation:

What does this mean?

Who does it apply to?

What help is available?

What happens next?

How can somebody challenge a decision?

Most importantly, those explanations should be tested by people who have actually had to navigate these systems.

Communication isn’t a final layer to add after the policy has been written. It determines whether the policy can be used.

Policy written about people should also be written so those people can understand it.

Some homelessness is hidden because of how people survive. Some is hidden because of how institutions count and communicate.

Neither should be an excuse for failing to see it.

Sources

Office for National Statistics: “Hidden” homelessness in the UK: evidence review

English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025: homelessness, hidden households and temporary accommodation