What the Coronavirus Proved About Homelessness
Editor’s Note: This article is part of “Uncharted,” a series about the world we’re leaving behind, and the one being remade by the pandemic.
When the coronavirus forced countries into lockdown and confined people to their homes, governments had to confront an urgent question: How do stay-at-home orders apply to those without a home?
For Britain, the answer was simple: “Bring everyone in.” Within days of imposing its national lockdown on March 23, the British government told local authorities to shelter any person in need of accommodation. It was an extraordinary task—one requiring millions of pounds, not to mention the efforts of huge numbers of officials and charities. But it worked. Thousands of unhoused people were placed in vacant hotel rooms, student dormitories, and other forms of temporary housing. A goal the government had given itself years to accomplish was achieved much more quickly.
For all the existing vulnerabilities the coronavirus has exposed within , , and the , it has also revealed how easily seemingly intractable problems can be fixed—with enough political will. Although the coronavirus hasn’t solved Britain’s homelessness problem outright, it has proved what many within the housing and charity sectors have known to be true for years: that with enough funding and prioritization, governments can bring people off the streets. The question is no longer whether or how Britain’s homelessness crisis can be resolved, but whether the country’s leaders will still be willing to expend the resources and political capital necessary to do so once the pandemic has passed.
