Justlife Foundation

Justlife Foundation

At a glance

Causes

  • Housing and homelessness

Other details

Organisation type: 
Charity
Geographical remit: 
National - England

Objectives

Justlife is in existence because we know that every time we don’t act another person living in Unsupported Temporary Accommodation (UTA) suffers. They suffer with deteriorating mental and physical health, become victims of crime, lose control of their life, drop off the bottom rung of the housing ladder or die prematurely. Tens of thousands of hidden homeless households are living in Unsupported Temporary Accommodation across England. UTA is private short-stay accommodation (B&Bs, private hostels, short-stay HMOs, guesthouses) where residents have no permanent residency status and limited access to local authority support. They are hidden, homeless and forgotten.

Through our research and our experience we are aware that most towns and cities in the UK have unsupported temporary accommodation, housing a homeless population that is hidden from the public eye, frequently not accounted for in official statistics and for whom very few support services exist.

Justlife has a unique focus and expertise in specifically trying to help this group with targeted, assertive activities. UTA is typically ignored in legislation, policy and
initiatives aimed at reducing or ending homelessness, in spite of the role it plays in the homelessness ‘system’. Those in UTA are not always considered homeless although residents will not have access to safe, secure and settled housing, often fit the legal definition for
homelessness and are missed completely from official statistics. As a result, many homeless households who end up in UTA do not go to local authority homelessness teams for support because they are not owed a statutory duty and cycle between rough sleeping and UTA, experiencing great hardship which largely goes unnoticed.

Activities

Manchester Centre Openshaw
Manchester mobile Justlife services
Partnership with Probation service
Manchester Homelessness Partnership – TAAG (Temporary Accommodation Action Group)
Health Engagement Work
Activities & Support Programme
Temporary Accommodation Action Group
Creative Studio
Frontline Network
Research & Policy – National
Unsupported Temporary Accommodation Group Network (4 existing TAAGs – 6 emerging
localities)
Understanding UTA in Greater Manchester project funded by GM Mayors office

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