Majority of Homeless Youth Come from Broken Families
More than 70% of 16 to 25 year-olds sleeping rough in Brighton come from dysfunctional families according to a homeless youth charity.
A spokesperson from The Clock Tower Sanctuary said that the large majority of their clients using their services left their homes because of constant confrontations between them and one of their parent's new partner.
Patricia Weedall, a volunteer project worker at the charity said: "one very common reason for young people leaving home is the mother or father having a new partner that they just don't get on with, this causes problems at home and they are asked to leave or they decide that life is unbearable at home and they've got to leave."
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Ms Weedall, who has been a volunteer for 12 years, said that although their clients come from different social and economic backgrounds, most of them were forced to leave their home because of conflict or violence.
Many have been subjected to physical, sexual and even emotional abuse, leaving them feeling that leaving home would be the best option for them, even if that meant living on the streets.
She said: "We had this one girl, who chose to run away from home because of her family's strict religious views. So she chose to leave all that behind and came down to Brighton with no friends or money."
The Clock Tower Sanctuary has been helping young rough sleepers since 1998, providing them with a safe space to eat, shower, wash their clothes and access the internet. With more than 50 regular service users and approximately 20 of them accessing the centre on a daily basis, the number of people registering at the Clock Tower Sanctuary is increasing every year.
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Ms Weedall said: "I think we will be getting more and more people using our services with the changes in benefits. Certain cuts will make it more difficult for young people to get enough money to live on and to find housing, so I think possibly, we will have more people using our services."
A freedom of information request sent to Brighton and Hove City Council confirmed that the main reason for statutory homelessness in Brighton is eviction by family and friends, followed by relationship breakdown and end of private sector tenancy.
For 28-year-old Nick, originally from Guildford, having to deal with all of the above caused a domino effect that resulted in what he describes as his 'downfall'.
Having to leave his family home due to constant disputes between himself and his mother's new partner, he decided to buy a house with his partner at the time.
However after breaking up with his girlfriend, he was unable to keep up with the house payments and found himself on the streets.
Feeling he could not return home, he decided to move to Brighton and has been on the streets for the past six years.
Ms Weedall said that cases like these are not uncommon, as family foundations in the UK are not very strong.
She said: "Families in this country are not that close, there's something fundamentally wrong with the foundation. It's not uncommon to see young people on the streets because they are not wanted at home."
Read Nick's Story