East Leeds tower block residents left feeling like 'prisoners' over homeless people sleeping in communal areas

Labour Coun Asghar Khan said the issue was leaving some council tenants feeling “unsafe” in the Burmantofts and Richmond Hill area he represents. Leeds City Council said it had widened its services to try to tackle the problem.

Having fallen during the covid pandemic, the number of rough sleepers in Leeds is on the rise again, in line with other parts of the country.

Speaking at a scrutiny meeting on Thursday, Coun Khan said: “Residents feel like prisoners and unsafe in multi-storey blocks, because we do have rough sleepers. In the ward I represent we’ve seen an increase in rough sleeping in those multi-storey blocks. They’re causing a lot of nuisance and mess for other [council] services, which are already strained.

“If a rough sleeper doesn’t want our services, what avenues do we have and where can they get help from other partners?”

In response, council officer Kerrie Murray said the local authority had “increased” its support services because of “issues with rough sleepers, particularly around evenings and weekends”.

She added: “The issue you mentioned around multi-storeys, that has been flagged up. Our outreach offer has been extended to support rough sleepers who are found during the evening and weekends. We’re quite successful in getting rough sleepers into accommodation.

“There is wrap around support for them and often it may well be that the help they need with their health, drug and alcohol addictions is the first thing that’s tackled, and then we’ll put them into accommodation.”