People are choosing to sleep rough as a “lifestyle choice”, a council report has claimed.
An investigation by Northampton Borough Council discovered 21 homeless people in the town, including “a significant proportion of European migrants”.
The people were “resolutely refusing to leave the streets”, the report said.
Council officials held talks with 30 organisations to develop a plan to eliminate rough sleeping by June 2017.
Lithuanian Kristians Olsteins has been rough sleeping in Northampton for about four months after losing his job and passport.
He said it was not a lifestyle choice for him and he would like nothing more than to have a home.
Mike Hallet, who has been homeless for two years, also denied it was a choice.
He said: “Of course, I would like to be off the streets – it is horrible and I would rather be anywhere else.”
But Darren Jordan, who lived on the streets for two months before finding space in a homeless shelter, believes “some people get stuck in a rut and then it does become a lifestyle choice”.
Northampton Hope Centre runs a day centre supporting people who are homeless or in poverty and was one of the organisations consulted by council officials.
General manager Robin Burgess said: “It’s clear there are people who have become accustomed to life on the street over many years – or even decades.
ALAN MURRAY-RUST/GEOGRAPH
But Darren Jordan, who lived on the streets for two months before finding space in a homeless shelter, believes “some people get stuck in a rut and then it does become a lifestyle choice”. stop snoring devices
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