A group of homeless individuals converted an abandoned bus stop into a makeshift home, exposing Britain’s housing problem.
Seven months ago, Destiny Mitchell, 26, moved into a 9.8-by-3.2-foot glass and metal shelter in Selly Oak, Birmingham, with her mother, 44, and boyfriend, 31-year-old Ryan.
The trio has added cupboards, chairs, carpet, bins, bedding, and Super Mario Bros-themed makeshift curtains.
But shopkeepers who are paying thousands of pounds in business rates and locals said the shelter was attracting ‘anti-social behaviour’ from large crowds of people gathering late at night.
It comes as Birmingham is caught in the grip of a housing crisis, with more than 23,000 households waiting for a property. This figure includes nearly 5,000 people who are living in temporary accommodation.
The council previously warned its waiting list for social housing could be closed to new applicants because of a backlog.
Nationally, around 1.3 million households across England are waiting for a property. Meanwhile, 109,000 households in England, including 142,000 children, were in emergency housing between June and September last year.
Additionally, according to government statistics, 3,898 people slept on the streets in 2023—a 27 percent yearly increase and the highest number since 2015.
The highest number of rough sleepers in 2023 were in Westminster (277) and Camden (121), and the biggest year-on-year increases were in Kingston upon Hull (290 percent), Ealing (121 percent), Redbridge (89 percent), and Leeds (32 percent).
A council leader explained to MailOnline how the problem was putting additional strain on local government.
Seán D T Woodward, of Fareham Borough Council in Hampshire, said: ‘There is a huge and increasing cost on all councils who are housing authorities to accommodate those at risk of homelessness.
‘In Fareham a few years ago, that cost was around £100,000 annually. It has now risen to £2,000,000 as various factors bite, including the cost of mortgages and rent, especially in the south-east.
‘In Fareham, nobody needs to sleep on the street, and when any homeless people engage with the Council via Fareham StreetAid, there is always room for them.
Destiny stated that although the municipality in Birmingham has offered to give temporary housing, she does not want to be apart from her mother, who has autism.
The 26-year-old added, ‘When we found this place, it was my idea to create this living space.
‘Before I lived in a bus stop, I was sleeping in a blanket on the floor, but I didn’t feel safe.
For anyone, living in a bus shelter is hardly the ideal circumstance. It results in disorder and disturbance, drinking, drug usage, and fighting and yelling at one another at all hours of the day and night.
The housing problem can be resolved in certain ways. Restart the construction of prefabricated homes or construct them using shipping containers. These should be constructed by councils using money from the sale of council houses. Make land banks’ holdings of developers constructed, or else they risk losing them. Divide the large home-building conglomerates into smaller businesses. Prohibit foreign investors from storing their funds offshore. Put an end to immigration altogether. Return the 1.5 million people who have no right to be here. Assess a high tax rate on the 1.5 million second homes and impose fines on authorities for houses that remain unoccupied for extended periods.
We currently have an excessively large and unsustainable population due to the majority of the newcomers to our country being a burden on the state and economy, but all these sensible measures seem to elude our political parties.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 