A surge in demand for support and concerns over low salaries are increasing fears of burnout among charity workers in the homelessness sector, a survey of frontline staff is warning.

According to homelessness charity St Martin in the Fields’ eighth annual survey of frontline workers, almost nine in ten are reporting a demand surge over the last 12 months and four in five believe the situation in their sector will worsen over the next few years.

Despite nine in ten workers in the sector feeling like they are making a difference, more than half say they “feel at risk of burnout”.

One in three frontline workers say low pay is adding to their challenges, with a similar proportion warning they are having to “take on extra work just to pay the bills”, warns St Martin in the Fields.

Only just over one in four say they feel “hopeful about the future of their job”.

“The risk is many will leave the profession, taking their knowledge, commitment and expertise with them,” said St Martin in the Fields.

Reasons for the demand surge include challenges accessing suitable accommodation for those facing homelessness, cited by more than four in five workers, and nine in ten said it was difficult finding landlords to accept people who rely on housing benefit.

The cost-of-living crisis, lack of social housing and rising private sector rents are among other factors.

‘So much pressure’

Sara Emerson, a service manager at Brighton and Hove homelessness charity Justlife, said the complex needs of people being supported “creates so much pressure”.

“Lots of people who end up in homelessness services need somewhere to live but they also present with multiple support needs at once and had they got other support
sooner, may not have ended up at risk of homelessness.

“It means that homelessness workers end up having to be extremely skilled in lots of different areas to match the needs that people present with,” she said.

She added: “People end up either burning out or frustrated because there’s no real progression despite these incredible skills you develop working with very complex people”.

Another charity worker, based in Manchester, who was surveyed said: “The cost-of-living crisis, escalating rents and lack of social housing are reaching a fever pitch, we have never seen anything like this.

“It's especially bad for multiple marginalised folks and those with decreased access to funds, who are often facing discrimination from landlords, extreme poverty, abuse and violence and a huge array of other challenges on top of housing.”

St Martin in the Fields spoke to more than 1,300 frontline workers in March and April this year, across the charity, council and housing provider sectors.

“Unprecedented levels of demand and gaps in provision are also putting huge pressure on those working in homelessness, who often face impossible choices, feel unable to do their job as they want to, and constantly have to adapt and fill in the gaps for other services and staff who are no longer there,” said the charity.

During the summer Marcin Nocek, a night shelter coordinator for Homeless Action in Barnet, launched a petition calling for frontline charity workers to be eligible for key worker housing schemes.

He warned charities “are losing many good workers as they are not able to rent a property; in order to afford, they move from charity sector to the private sector”.

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