With the numbers of people sleeping rough in Gondomar “tripling in the space of a year”, SIC Notícias reports that ‘technicians on the ground’ (those connected to council and social services) have verified the profile of local homelessness has changed. It is no longer the domain of drug takers, or drug users. Homeless people in the borough today are often those on more or less minimum wages who simply cannot afford to put a roof over their heads because the cost of rents has risen so sharply. The council is arranging a 15-bed space for rough sleepers in the borough (hoping to expand the offer rapidly), and preparing strategies to try and help these people back into society. Meantime, it is also preparing to increase the construction of subsidised housing with 300 new homes.
