Homeless charity Nomad Opening Doors calls for action at Sheffield Town Hall over 'alarming' housing crisis

A Sheffield homelessness charity that says it has a waiting list of 200 people in desperate need of a room is calling for action at the town hall.

Nomad Opening Doors says there is an “alarming” housing crisis in Sheffield where people are suddenly left without a roof over their heads with nowhere to go.

The charity works through its own letting agency, Four Trees Lettings, to offer affordable shared accommodation to single people unable to rent anywhere else or who have ‘the rug pulled out from under them’.

However, where they once took on up to 30 referrals a month, in November and December 2023 they received over 150 without the means to help them all.

Now, head of services Karen Awdhali says the charity’s 84 rooms are full with a waiting list of 200 people.

She said: “Morale at the office is low as we are unable to do our jobs and help people. We aren’t doing assessments with new referrals because we don’t want to give them false hope.

“The people we see are young people who have a relationship breakdown with a parent, people whose marriages have broken down, and people with a positive asylum decision then given seven days to find a place to live by the Home Office.

“People are increasingly having to sleep on the streets, churches and mosques.”

Now, Nomad is working with South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG) to call for action at Sheffield Town Hall.

The event at Sheffield Town Hall between 11am-1pm at March 27 will discuss the housing crisis for single homeless people and call on community leaders, councillors, and landlords to discuss what can be done to address it.

Karen said: “We work closely with the council already, but I think the only people who can solve this issue are private landlords who will come to us and say how can we work together.

“We can find you tenants for free. We can fill properties at no charge.  If you want us to manage the property we can do that too. It’s not about making money for Nomad, it’s about getting people housed.”