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Down and Out: Surviving the Homelessness Crisis
***Winner of the 2023 Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness***
***Winner of an RSL Giles St Aubyn Award for Non-Fiction***
'Part memoir, part howl of fury' GUARDIAN
'Enrich[es] our impoverished sociological imagination' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
'Raw and compelling' FINANCIAL TIMES
'S hows the human cost of a genuinely Kafka-esque bureaucratic system' NEW STATESMAN
At once a powerful memoir, unflinching polemic and probing investigation into modern homelessness in the UK, by award-winning investigative journalist Daniel Lavelle
Daniel Lavelle left care at the age of nineteen, and experienced homelessness for the first time not long after. So began a life spent navigating social services that were not fit for purpose, leaving Daniel and many like him slipping through the cracks.
In Down and Out , Daniel draws on his own experiences - as well as those of the witty, complex, hopeful individuals he has encountered who have been shunned or forgotten by the state that is supposed to provide for them - in order to shine a powerful light on this dire situation.
Down and Out is a true state-of-the-nation examination of modern assessing its significance, its precursors and causes, as well as the role played by government, austerity, charities, and other systems in perpetuating this crisis. Ultimately, it seeks to ask how we as a society might change our practices and attitudes so that, one day, we can bring this injustice to an end.
More praise for Down and Out :
'Ruthless and raw ' DAVID LAMMY, author of TRIBES
' A vital voice . . . A book for every politician, policy maker and reader who wants a fairer and kinder country' FRANCES RYAN, author of CRIPPLED
'Anyone interested in homelessness should read this book' SIMON HATTENSTONE, journalist
'A valuable and damning personal tale of how the system fails our kids' EMILY KENWAY, author of THE TRUTH ABOUT MODERN SLAVERY
***Winner of an RSL Giles St Aubyn Award for Non-Fiction***
'Part memoir, part howl of fury' GUARDIAN
'Enrich[es] our impoverished sociological imagination' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
'Raw and compelling' FINANCIAL TIMES
'S hows the human cost of a genuinely Kafka-esque bureaucratic system' NEW STATESMAN
At once a powerful memoir, unflinching polemic and probing investigation into modern homelessness in the UK, by award-winning investigative journalist Daniel Lavelle
Daniel Lavelle left care at the age of nineteen, and experienced homelessness for the first time not long after. So began a life spent navigating social services that were not fit for purpose, leaving Daniel and many like him slipping through the cracks.
In Down and Out , Daniel draws on his own experiences - as well as those of the witty, complex, hopeful individuals he has encountered who have been shunned or forgotten by the state that is supposed to provide for them - in order to shine a powerful light on this dire situation.
Down and Out is a true state-of-the-nation examination of modern assessing its significance, its precursors and causes, as well as the role played by government, austerity, charities, and other systems in perpetuating this crisis. Ultimately, it seeks to ask how we as a society might change our practices and attitudes so that, one day, we can bring this injustice to an end.
More praise for Down and Out :
'Ruthless and raw ' DAVID LAMMY, author of TRIBES
' A vital voice . . . A book for every politician, policy maker and reader who wants a fairer and kinder country' FRANCES RYAN, author of CRIPPLED
'Anyone interested in homelessness should read this book' SIMON HATTENSTONE, journalist
'A valuable and damning personal tale of how the system fails our kids' EMILY KENWAY, author of THE TRUTH ABOUT MODERN SLAVERY
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2022
6 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Lavelle
3 books4 followersDaniel Lavelle is a freelance feature writer from Manchester. He left care at 19 and experienced homelessness for the first time not long after. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a BA in History. He has covered topics such as mental health, homelessness, and culture for the Guardian (for whom he co-authored the series ‘The Empty Doorway’), New Statesman and the Independent. He has an MA in Journalism from Goldsmiths and in 2017 he received the Guardian’s Hugo Young award for an opinion piece on his experience of homelessness. ‘The Empty Doorway’ won Feature of the Year at the British Journalism Awards 2019 and has been nominated for the same award at the National Press Awards 2020. His first book Down and Out will be published by Wildfire in 2022. He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 4, 2022
As I was out walking on a corner one day
I spied an old hobo, in a doorway he lay
His face was all grounded in the cold sidewalk floor
And I guess he’d been there for the whole night or more
I regularly walk from Victoria Centre in Nottingham to the train station. During the summer I would always see two or three apparently homeless men (no women) in empty shop doorways or just huddled with all their stuff against a wall. Now I see seven or eight of these guys. (This is excluding the buskers, there are always three or four of those.) It’s not guaranteed that these guys are homeless, maybe they are just beggars who go back to a spiffy semidetatched after their eight hour shift, but I doubt it. So there is definitely a problem, and it seems to be getting worse.
Down and Out is a hot mess of a book about homelessness in Britain now, how the way the state treats these people is a disgrace, a whole howl of pain from a guy who had a few spells of homelessness himself. It’s 60% scrambled-up confusing and alas repetitive memoir and 40% statistics and angry and alas repetitive expostulations.
Sincerity is not the problem here, the total denunciations of everything anyone ever tries to do for the homeless is. According to Daniel, the Tory government and their loathsome minions are at war with the homeless. They have devised an evil Kafkaesque system to trip up the poor blighters and trap them and steal their benefits and throw them back onto the streets.
There’s misery on our streets. The central government has shown nothing but callous disregard for it, local authorities haven’t been much better, and charities aren’t picking up the slack.
The “system” might be totally evil but Daniel does not paint the homeless as saints, very far from it. He is tireless, almost monotonously so, in his reminders to us that most homeless people suffer from “substance abuse” and mental health issues, bring many of their problems down upon themselves, and have a background of chaotic disintegrating family life, often ending up “in care”, which is the name given to children whose parents are considered too dangerous to be left in charge of them. But the care given to these desperate kids “in care” is nearly as terrible as the parents were dishing out. Instead of getting beaten and neglected, they just get neglected, so they start having sex at age 11 and try drugs age 12. That’s the picture Daniel gives of kids “in care”.
So by the time a person ends up as homeless they have a great many problems. They have become very difficult customers, unpredictable, wayward, obsessed with the next fix, unlikely to have a coherent career plan. They are not inclined to follow the rules set down by the homeless shelter or the local charity. Daniel does not flinch from harsh descriptions.
A blanket of newspaper covered his head
As the curb was his pillow, the street was his bed
One look at his face showed the hard road he’d come
And a fistful of coins showed the money he bummed
So one of the problems of this book is that it’s way too bleak about almost everything. Wait – there is a remedy!
The final chapter, “Ending Homelessness”, says that
What’s most frustrating about the homelessness crisis is that we know how to solve it, yet we continue to throw money at things that don’t work.
We do? Sorry to say I have heard exactly the same sentiment from every radical campaigner about every issue for decades – if only people would realise, we could fix this problem at one tenth of the cost that we now spend perpetuating it! Why don’t they get it?
Does it take much of a man to see his whole life go down
To look up on the world from a hole in the ground
To wait for your future like a horse that’s gone lame
To lie in the gutter and die with no name
Daniel’s solution is something called Housing First which is as far as I can gather the idea that you give every homeless person a house – no ifs or buts - and then provide “wrap-around care” for their mental health and substance abuse problems. Also “we must build enough social housing” – something everybody agrees with. Sounds great. I’m not arguing for the destruction of capitalism he says. Finland did it (it’s always a Scandinavian country that gets things right, I just don’t see why all countries don’t simply copy all their policies) and guess what, they reduced their rough sleeping population from 18,000 to “a little over a third of that”.
After reading this I think I just confirmed a few of my prejudices. This was a jeremiad.
Only a hobo, but one more is gone
Leavin’ nobody to sing his sad song
Leavin’ nobody to carry him home
Only a hobo, but one more is gone
- Bob Dylan, Only a Hobo, 1963
I spied an old hobo, in a doorway he lay
His face was all grounded in the cold sidewalk floor
And I guess he’d been there for the whole night or more
I regularly walk from Victoria Centre in Nottingham to the train station. During the summer I would always see two or three apparently homeless men (no women) in empty shop doorways or just huddled with all their stuff against a wall. Now I see seven or eight of these guys. (This is excluding the buskers, there are always three or four of those.) It’s not guaranteed that these guys are homeless, maybe they are just beggars who go back to a spiffy semidetatched after their eight hour shift, but I doubt it. So there is definitely a problem, and it seems to be getting worse.
Down and Out is a hot mess of a book about homelessness in Britain now, how the way the state treats these people is a disgrace, a whole howl of pain from a guy who had a few spells of homelessness himself. It’s 60% scrambled-up confusing and alas repetitive memoir and 40% statistics and angry and alas repetitive expostulations.
Sincerity is not the problem here, the total denunciations of everything anyone ever tries to do for the homeless is. According to Daniel, the Tory government and their loathsome minions are at war with the homeless. They have devised an evil Kafkaesque system to trip up the poor blighters and trap them and steal their benefits and throw them back onto the streets.
There’s misery on our streets. The central government has shown nothing but callous disregard for it, local authorities haven’t been much better, and charities aren’t picking up the slack.
The “system” might be totally evil but Daniel does not paint the homeless as saints, very far from it. He is tireless, almost monotonously so, in his reminders to us that most homeless people suffer from “substance abuse” and mental health issues, bring many of their problems down upon themselves, and have a background of chaotic disintegrating family life, often ending up “in care”, which is the name given to children whose parents are considered too dangerous to be left in charge of them. But the care given to these desperate kids “in care” is nearly as terrible as the parents were dishing out. Instead of getting beaten and neglected, they just get neglected, so they start having sex at age 11 and try drugs age 12. That’s the picture Daniel gives of kids “in care”.
So by the time a person ends up as homeless they have a great many problems. They have become very difficult customers, unpredictable, wayward, obsessed with the next fix, unlikely to have a coherent career plan. They are not inclined to follow the rules set down by the homeless shelter or the local charity. Daniel does not flinch from harsh descriptions.
A blanket of newspaper covered his head
As the curb was his pillow, the street was his bed
One look at his face showed the hard road he’d come
And a fistful of coins showed the money he bummed
So one of the problems of this book is that it’s way too bleak about almost everything. Wait – there is a remedy!
The final chapter, “Ending Homelessness”, says that
What’s most frustrating about the homelessness crisis is that we know how to solve it, yet we continue to throw money at things that don’t work.
We do? Sorry to say I have heard exactly the same sentiment from every radical campaigner about every issue for decades – if only people would realise, we could fix this problem at one tenth of the cost that we now spend perpetuating it! Why don’t they get it?
Does it take much of a man to see his whole life go down
To look up on the world from a hole in the ground
To wait for your future like a horse that’s gone lame
To lie in the gutter and die with no name
Daniel’s solution is something called Housing First which is as far as I can gather the idea that you give every homeless person a house – no ifs or buts - and then provide “wrap-around care” for their mental health and substance abuse problems. Also “we must build enough social housing” – something everybody agrees with. Sounds great. I’m not arguing for the destruction of capitalism he says. Finland did it (it’s always a Scandinavian country that gets things right, I just don’t see why all countries don’t simply copy all their policies) and guess what, they reduced their rough sleeping population from 18,000 to “a little over a third of that”.
After reading this I think I just confirmed a few of my prejudices. This was a jeremiad.
Only a hobo, but one more is gone
Leavin’ nobody to sing his sad song
Leavin’ nobody to carry him home
Only a hobo, but one more is gone
- Bob Dylan, Only a Hobo, 1963
May 23, 2022
An unforgettable blend of memoir, investigative journalism, and political analysis, Down and Out is a striking debut about homelessness in the UK that should be mandatory reading for anyone who works in social policy. Although the subject matter - child abuse, government incompetence, alcoholism and more - is frequently depressing, Lavelle tackles it with warmth and humour. This approach, combined with his intelligent exploration of solutions to the homelessness crisis, from supervised injection sites for drug users to Housing First, means that readers looking for pulpy "misery lit" are likely to be disappointed. However, if you're seeking insight into why people become homeless in this country and how we as a society can stop that from happening, this is the book for you! *Especially* if you're put off by the sentimentality/classist condescension/snooze-inducingly dry academic language that seems to pervade non-fiction writing about homelessness.
It should be noted that my review of Down and Out is likely to be biased by the following factors: 1) I received a free proof copy and 2) I have experienced some of the traumas that Lavelle describes in this book. It feels strange to review a memoir that in places feels like you could have written it yourself. But this is not the first memoir I've read that addresses attachment issues or housing insecurity, and it definitely stands out from the crowd because of how masterfully it links the personal and political. Many writers struggle to connect their own experiences to the bigger picture in a way that doesn't feel awkward and forced. Lavelle, in contrast, comes across as a born sociologist.
Of the few quibbles I have about the book, the most significant is that the chronology of events can be unclear, and I found myself flicking back and forth to piece together a timeline of events in my mind. I'm not sure how much this vagueness is intentional (it would make sense as a choice made to help maintain the anonymity of people from Lavelle's history).
Overall, this is an outstanding book. Read with Danny Dorling's Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists and Frances Ryan's Crippled and you'll never be able to watch the news again!
It should be noted that my review of Down and Out is likely to be biased by the following factors: 1) I received a free proof copy and 2) I have experienced some of the traumas that Lavelle describes in this book. It feels strange to review a memoir that in places feels like you could have written it yourself. But this is not the first memoir I've read that addresses attachment issues or housing insecurity, and it definitely stands out from the crowd because of how masterfully it links the personal and political. Many writers struggle to connect their own experiences to the bigger picture in a way that doesn't feel awkward and forced. Lavelle, in contrast, comes across as a born sociologist.
Of the few quibbles I have about the book, the most significant is that the chronology of events can be unclear, and I found myself flicking back and forth to piece together a timeline of events in my mind. I'm not sure how much this vagueness is intentional (it would make sense as a choice made to help maintain the anonymity of people from Lavelle's history).
Overall, this is an outstanding book. Read with Danny Dorling's Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists and Frances Ryan's Crippled and you'll never be able to watch the news again!
Read
August 21, 2023Highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about homelessness in Britain today from the point of view of someone who’s experienced. A deeply moving combination of stories about a handful of individuals who’ve been failed by our system, alongside an examination of why that system does not work.
November 12, 2023
The 'housing crisis' has been dominating the headlines in England. The issue, that so far, was a condition for living in London, has become an issue all over the country as local authorities scramble to house families and vulnerable individuals who find themselves homeless for various reasons.
Daniel Lavelle, a freelance journalist with bylines in The Guardian , is passionate about the subject, mainly because he was a victim of the system that creates and perpetuates long-term homelessness.
The book is divided into several chapters touching on the effect that early trauma, poverty, physical and mental health crises and addiction can have on individuals. How the current system of criminalisation, over reliance on the third sector and poorly funded and poorly ran mental health services can cause and prolong homelessness and rough sleeping. Each chapter reveals some of Daniel's life - his early childhood and stint in the foster care system; his time relying on the help of Emmaus ( a charity that provides food and board in exchange for 40 hours of labour from homeless individuals); his experience with S21 evictions, this is where a private landlord will evict their tenants for no reason and his own experience of alcohol dependency and mental health issues.
This is such a necessary and great piece of journalism. I applaud the author and all the people who agreed to be interviews for this book. I What Lavelle highlights is frightening. As more and more families become homeless due to the rise in the cost of living and the increase in rent; England will start seeing a lot more of the 'chronically homeless' who bounce around between temporary accommodation and hostels. The provision and support just isn't there.
Daniel Lavelle, a freelance journalist with bylines in The Guardian , is passionate about the subject, mainly because he was a victim of the system that creates and perpetuates long-term homelessness.
The book is divided into several chapters touching on the effect that early trauma, poverty, physical and mental health crises and addiction can have on individuals. How the current system of criminalisation, over reliance on the third sector and poorly funded and poorly ran mental health services can cause and prolong homelessness and rough sleeping. Each chapter reveals some of Daniel's life - his early childhood and stint in the foster care system; his time relying on the help of Emmaus ( a charity that provides food and board in exchange for 40 hours of labour from homeless individuals); his experience with S21 evictions, this is where a private landlord will evict their tenants for no reason and his own experience of alcohol dependency and mental health issues.
This is such a necessary and great piece of journalism. I applaud the author and all the people who agreed to be interviews for this book. I What Lavelle highlights is frightening. As more and more families become homeless due to the rise in the cost of living and the increase in rent; England will start seeing a lot more of the 'chronically homeless' who bounce around between temporary accommodation and hostels. The provision and support just isn't there.
April 21, 2023
A very interesting but sad read.
This is Daniel's story of his struggles with homelessness and includes stories of those he encountered during his stint on the streets and in various hostels and different accomodation. It was really interesting to read about, lots of people just walk past the homeless and don't give them a second thought, but I always wonder what caused individuals to find themselves in that situation and this made a great read.
It was brutally honest and a very brave thing to put pen to paper... Definitely makes you feel very thankful to not be in that situation but let's not forget we quite easily could be. Makes you really understand and appreciate all these people have to put up with and deal with. I am glad Daniel found his way out the other side and is on track to making a brand new life for himself. I don't live far from where Daniel grew up so reading about the places he frequented was a surprise as I had no idea where he was from when I picked this up. Whilst being a very informative read, it was also very sensitive and I think Daniel did a great job of keeping identities hidden and private even while telling their stories.
This is Daniel's story of his struggles with homelessness and includes stories of those he encountered during his stint on the streets and in various hostels and different accomodation. It was really interesting to read about, lots of people just walk past the homeless and don't give them a second thought, but I always wonder what caused individuals to find themselves in that situation and this made a great read.
It was brutally honest and a very brave thing to put pen to paper... Definitely makes you feel very thankful to not be in that situation but let's not forget we quite easily could be. Makes you really understand and appreciate all these people have to put up with and deal with. I am glad Daniel found his way out the other side and is on track to making a brand new life for himself. I don't live far from where Daniel grew up so reading about the places he frequented was a surprise as I had no idea where he was from when I picked this up. Whilst being a very informative read, it was also very sensitive and I think Daniel did a great job of keeping identities hidden and private even while telling their stories.
September 29, 2022
I bought this book because of my frustration at seeing this situation being made almost a marketing opportunity for a venue in another recently published book.
This is the real thing.
I was able to laugh, along with the tears of empathy, and also felt a hefty degree of anger at how this situation is increasingly common in our first world society.
I thank this author for bringing first hand knowledge of homelessness to us. I remember an almost disbelieving fear and despair when it happened to me. It resulted in an ambivalent attitude of wanting to turn away from anyone in this situation, but wanting hear their story, and how they coped.
I want to read the book again, and hope to expand on this review in time.
This is the real thing.
I was able to laugh, along with the tears of empathy, and also felt a hefty degree of anger at how this situation is increasingly common in our first world society.
I thank this author for bringing first hand knowledge of homelessness to us. I remember an almost disbelieving fear and despair when it happened to me. It resulted in an ambivalent attitude of wanting to turn away from anyone in this situation, but wanting hear their story, and how they coped.
I want to read the book again, and hope to expand on this review in time.
February 26, 2025
This is a memoir and a commentary/analysis on homelessness in the UK. Lavelle talks about his own experience growing up in the care system, and then experiencing a lack of support as a care leaver which effectively left him without a home. Lavelle examines the various strands of the State which contribute towards homelessness - education, the care system, the welfare system, the criminal justice system, all perpetuating the homelessness crisis. The final chapter, “Ending Homelessness” offers some real solutions which the UK could adopt, to offer people wrap around support, to eliminate homelessness. This book made me think about homelessness in a different way. I was startled to realise how easy it is to become homeless in this country. A must-read for everyone in the UK.
July 8, 2022
Bearing both the curse and the blessing of New Journalism, this is a disjointed, meandering mess of a book with rather non-linear plot structure and frequent ruminations on various issues (involving police in education, Thatcher's policies, housing crisis, austerity, patriotism, a whole lot of drugs, racism, child abuse, the fallacies of privatization and charity among many others). It's also compassionate, intelligent and quite short. If you're thinking of getting an audiobook, the writer does more than a decent job of narrating it, if you don't mind some Mancunian accent.
June 5, 2023
Why do we even have homelessness?
A student from Colombia asked me. It's down to cruel, inhumane neo-liberal ideology which has wrecked public services in UK for over 40 years now. The Everyone in scheme in Pandemic, showed that everyone in UK could be housed, when there's the will to do so. Homes First programme gives everyone a home, and from that
basis other social issues can be tackle. MH needs proper funding, like Cancer care. This is not going to happen under Neo-Liberal, one-upmanship, ideology. We need system change, to à system that ses everyone as human.
A student from Colombia asked me. It's down to cruel, inhumane neo-liberal ideology which has wrecked public services in UK for over 40 years now. The Everyone in scheme in Pandemic, showed that everyone in UK could be housed, when there's the will to do so. Homes First programme gives everyone a home, and from that
basis other social issues can be tackle. MH needs proper funding, like Cancer care. This is not going to happen under Neo-Liberal, one-upmanship, ideology. We need system change, to à system that ses everyone as human.
July 4, 2022
Can't recommend highly enough. If this book doesn't make you furious at our leaders cowardly aproach to homelessness or fails to instill a sense of empathy for those pushed to the periphery of society by a neglectful state then you may need to realign your moral compass . Gets under your skin and changes your perspective without resorting to high brow virtue signaling or polemical finger pointing. Needs to reach the biggest audience possible.
July 30, 2022
A mix of personal experience and wider commentary on homelessness and circumstances that contribute towards it. I finished the book feeling like the issue of homelessness is easier to solve than I thought but there is not the political will to actually take the required action to fix the problem. Sad, thought provoking, well-written and informative. It should be required reading for MPs who claim to care about this issue.
December 8, 2023
A memoir about being a homeless man in modern Britain. Unflinching in that it does not turn away from the many emotional problems the homeless may have, it is also enlightening about how they are often exploited by so-called charities; something that is not often discussed.
March 18, 2023
really good book from someone who has been homeless. Explains how it happpens and why quick universal fixes don't work well.
May 10, 2023
Superbly written, a damning critique on current and previous governments, gives a different perspective on homelessness and how close we all are to it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews