We won’t rest until every young, LGBT+ person has a safe and secure place to call home with the support they need to go on and thrive as happy and successful adults.
Adam Pemberton Wickham is Chief Executive of akt and Joe Dharampal-Hornby is Co-Chair of LGBT+ Labour
It’s heartbreaking and not a choice that anyone should ever to have to make. But today, across the UK, LGBT+, young people are still disproportionately forced to make exactly that decision.
In 2025, young people are being kicked out for coming out, sometimes finding themselves on the streets suddenly, rejected by the very people they trusted would always show them unconditional love and support. Or, once having shared their identity with family, friends and their community, they are struggling to live in an environment which is uncomfortable or actively hostile towards them.
This stark reality is among the findings of the groundbreaking report, There’s No Place Like Home, published this month by national, LGBT+ youth homelessness charity, akt, in partnership with the Universities of Kent, Bristol and Southampton.
It finds that LGBT+ people are twice as likely to experience hidden homelessness (e.g. sofa surfing, squatting) as non-LGBT+ individuals. LGBT+ people from ethnic minority communities face a 50% higher risk. More than 1 in 4 of the young people akt surveyed had previously experienced homelessness, with the majority experiencing hidden homelessness.
Many young people experiencing LGBT+ youth homelessness have also experienced familial domestic abuse but are not always considered for priority status in housing applications as the abuse can be difficult to evidence or authorities have not considered LGBTQ+ domestic abuse in their assessment.
Intersectionality worsens homelessness for young trans and non-binary people, as transphobia and compounding vulnerabilities exacerbate their challenges. More than 1 in 3 transgender young people responding to akt’s survey had experienced hidden homelessness (37% compared to 22% for cisgender individuals). Trans young people face increased risks due to volatile social and political environments. Being LGBT+ and from an ethnic minority means you are 50% more likely to experience hidden homelessness.
We welcome the government’s renewed focus on tackling homelessness, including the new homelessness unit at the heart of government, and adopting the ‘Yes in my Back Yard’ (YIMBY) mantra, recognising the need to build more homes across the country to ease the housing crisis.
But more work is needed to recognise the scale of the challenge of LGBT+ homelessness, and meet it head on in the coming years. Policymakers should collect better data on LGBT+ homelessness and update the Homelessness Code of Guidance to ensure LGBT+ young people are prioritised in housing services.
Housing services, charities, and local authorities must recognise the specific challenges LGBT+ young people face and provide accessible, high-quality support nationwide. More must be also done to address the compounded risks faced by LGBT+ young people from further, marginalised communities, ensuring targeted interventions that address their unique needs.
The last 30 years has seen great advances in LGBT+ equality, but it is very possible to go backwards. We need to stand up for the progress we have already made but also recognise that the job is far from done. We won’t rest until every young, LGBT+ person has a safe and secure place to call home with the support they need to go on and thrive as happy and successful adults.
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