SMARTLY dressed in a crisp black shirt, white T-shirt, trousers and shoes, a man proudly and carefully sets out his works of art, ready to sell to his customers.
The dozens of colourful pictures are eye-catching, and he’s hoping to sell as many as possible while the streets are bathed in sunshine, drawing more people out to shop.
Matty’s art isn’t displayed in a shop or even a market stall. It’s on the concrete slabs of the same pavement he sleeps on as one of Brighton‘s many street sleepers.
Giving his age as 40-ish, he has been divorced twice, and bears the scars of a brutal stabbing which left him hospitalised and with 14 stitches to his throat.
He tells our reporter: “I was selling my art, and I was trying to reduce, refrain and stop using drugs, but these boys were bothering me to buy from them, so I told them to f*** off.
“They persisted and we had a small scuffle, then I walked away from them, and they seemed to have left town. But that night I was sleeping on a bench and got woken at 3am being punched in the face, and I got stabbed.
“I could have died. I was put into emergency accommodation for eight weeks and then had to leave.
“It’s highly dangerous being homeless in Brighton. There’s a seedy underbelly, but people don’t see it because it has nice architecture and clean streets.
“Being the gay capital of the UK there is a seedy side and when you’re vulnerable on the streets you’re open to exploitation.
“There’s a lot of GBL and GHB drugs around, known as G, as there’s a lot of chemsex going on, so you get approached by older men offering money and drugs and making hideous proposals which you’re clearly not interested in.
“They offer drugs and sex in exchange for one night’s shelter with £100 to buy your own drug of choice when you leave.
“There’s one known pervert who keeps giving me proposals, and nearly everyone I know has been approached or accosted by this guy, and some will be desperate enough to take it.
“A lot of women in particular get drawn into false relationships which are based on money and drugs for accommodation, and sex for rent is still rampant, as well as ‘c**ks for rocks’ with the female addicts.
“This place is ten out of ten for seediness. If I was alone today I’d have maybe 20 proposals by the end of the day.”
Rough sleeping crisis
With Brighton residents facing some of the country’s highest rents outside of London, homelessness has become a stark issue over recent months.
In August, Brighton City Council hired two private specialist companies to remove a tent encampment in Madeira Terrace, which cost taxpayers more than £36,000.
Figures obtained by The Argus show 7,500 households are on Brighton and Hove’s waiting list for social housing, with a 3.3 year average wait to be housed.
Troublingly, over 1,900 households are in temporary and emergency accommodation.
The figure of those who’ve fallen through the cracks or chose to sleep outside instead of in temporary accommodation was believed to be 76 last November, including a handful of women.
Matty is joined by a fellow artist who is also a street sleeper, who sits behind the display of art and draws a skull, making it come alive with flicks of green and purple highlighter.
He’s clearly talented, but it doesn’t put a roof over his head.
Matty says: “It’s inexcusable that people are left without homes and have to sleep on the streets.
“There are hostels, but they scoop everyone up who has a drugs problem, mental health issue, need clinical care or have a history of violence and put them all in a hostel.
You get approached by older men offering money and drugs and making hideous proposals which you’re clearly not interested in
Matty, rough sleeper“I’d rather be out on the street. You get 50 problem people in one building, and you don’t have to be a genius to know what will happen. There’s bullying, violence, coercion, financial abuse and exploitation. It’s a dumping ground.
“Those places become drug dens and I’m trying to heal and recover.
“Sometimes in the winter I squat in empty buildings because I refuse to let myself freeze on the streets.”
Matty was left homeless after his second divorce and tells us he has a family and house he bought but can’t stay in. He says the time he’s been homeless on and off equates to a year.
“I have problematic situations living with people. I’m neurodivergent, and I’m a really difficult person. I’m obnoxious and stroppy, so when that happens I leave and I survive by selling my pictures – I made £30 yesterday.”
He is determined to stay sober. He is prescribed a regular injection of Buvidal, a medication which stems his cravings for opiates, in a similar way to methadone.
“I’m so happy I’m having Buvadil, but I had to jump through hoops to get it. The medicine is incredible.
“There are a lot of users, at night they’ll stay together because it’s lonely, cold and scary, but the next they’ll steal your things – it’s dog eat dog.”
Safer on streets
Bob became homeless after the death of his mum, and prefers the streets to supported accommodation In August, Brighton City Council hired two private specialist companies to remove a tent encampment The removal cost taxpayers more than £36,000Bob Thurlow, 62, has been sleeping rough for a decade, since his mother he was a full-time-carer for passed away, and he became embroiled in a lengthy battle to have probate granted.
He spent four years staying in support housing, but, like many, prefers to sleep on the streets.
“To be honest I have a palpable sense of relief for being out of there. It was a supported housing organisation but it was just very controlling, when there’s no need for it to be like that.
“Coming out of there is a relief, which is a sad indictment. The property itself was ok, but the environment…
“The support was very sketchy and very minimal with massively high turnovers of support staff. In the time I was there I had 14 different key workers; there’s no continuity.
“They’re called floating staff, they don’t live in, and I think the biggest elephant in the room is that most of them have never experienced being homeless themselves, which makes it difficult getting them to appreciate issues.
It’s a dumping ground. Those places [homesless hostels] become drug dens and I’m trying to heal and recover
Matty, rough sleeper“You do get some good members of staff, but they do move on in the end.
“The homeless community itself in Brighton can be quite disparate. You have what I call little firms, people who tend to stick together.
“A lot of them are quite sensible, but you do get a lot of people, especially along the seafront, who are completely off their nut.
“It’s mostly men, but there are women, and I think there’s a higher number than people realise, but they tend to hide themselves away quite well.
“There aren’t many women that are visible, and I don’t ask them questions as I’d find that prying, and I think many are very troubled.”
‘The firm’
Elizabeth Douglas would like more to be done to help homeless peopleTravelling along the seafront, past the posh Regency homes with the cream exteriors and wrought iron balcony fences, near to The Grand Hotel, are another group of homeless men.
They make up another so-called ‘firm’; three men currently camping with four tents pitched on the lawn by the seafront at Hove.
Some have been there since last winter, but will have to move on as the council is seeking a court order for the enforceable removal of their tents.
The three men don’t take drugs, but like many housed people enjoy a couple of cans of beer in the evenings.
They are just regular people who are down on their luck.
One of the men tells us he worked as a construction estimator but suffered a mental breakdown earlier this year amid the cost-of-living crisis.
I fear we’re heading towards a dysatopian future
Elizabeth Douglas“I had a breakdown because of the stress of trying to pay the mortgage and ground rent, so I took time out and went to Canada for three months and then went to Spain.
“I lost my house and when I came home I sofa-surfed, staying with friends, but I didn’t want to take advantage of people.
“In June I was in an HMO, but my tent is bigger than the room I had, so I decided to move out.
“I have a membership to the gym, so I go there to work out and have a shower, and I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m from Brighton originally and I have an auntie who lives up the road.
“Many of the people don’t have anyone here, so we stick together. We’re currently trying to fight the council who want to kick us out of here. We’re not taking drugs, we keep ourselves to ourselves and clean up our rubbish.
“Most homeless people have either a drugs problem or issues with mental health, so more needs to be provided to support them, but sadly the help doesn’t seem to be there.”
Over the summer there were at least ten tents on the same lawns, with others across the city, with Brighton and Hove being one of the biggest rough sleeping hotspots outside of London.
One homeless man from the north of the UK told us when he left home he headed to London, but was told Brighton was a “much better and nicer” place to bed down.
Calls for support
Hairdresser and palliative carer Roy Sword said that being homeless could happen to anyone Rough sleepers are a common site in the seaside town, even by the famous piersMembers of the public we spoke to also recognised the need for more support.
Elizabeth Douglas, 65, said: “It’s pitiful to see so many homeless people and that nothing is being done to help the most vulnerable and young people who are struggling with mental health issues.
“I’ve taught my children to offer them a coffee or a sandwich, but they need to have support for the issues they face.
“I fear we’re heading towards a dystopian future.”
Being the gay capital of the UK there is a seedy side and when you’re vulnerable on the streets you’re open to exploitation
Matty, rough sleeperHairdresser and palliative carer Roy Sword, 49, from London, was visiting family in the city and said: “The situation is devastating, and could happen to any one of us.
“It’s something I’ve feared myself, so I sold my one bedroom flat and bought a studio flat because of the worry of affording the mortgage as well as the rising prices of utilities.
“It’s true that we’re all only one pay cheque away.”
Hidden homeless
Brighton is known for its sprawling seafront with Victorian architectureCharities Single Homeless project and Solace Women’s Aid have carried out a women’s census annually since 2022, and estimate there are ten times more women sleeping rough than government estimates suggest.
This is because while men sleep outside, women tend to sleep in a fast-food restaurant, on a bus, or spend all night walking around and carrying their belongings for safety reasons.
Councillor Gill Williams, cabinet member for housing, said 2,500 households had sought help from the council in the past year, including families and single people.
She told The Argus: “We found in early 2025, there were 704 people homeless with two or more, what we call, compounding needs. So that could mean it’s not just about homelessness or rough sleeping, it’s also about their health.
“There could be substance misuse, there could be an offending history, there could be domestic violence, there could be refugees, all sorts of different needs.
“It’s not just about having a roof over somebody’s head. It’s about also finding help and support for those different needs that people have.”
Councillor Paul Nann, cabinet advisor for Homelessness at Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “We do all we can to not only tackle the root causes of homelessness, but also support those people experiencing it into safe and secure accommodation.
“We are in the midst of a housing crisis and there are significant pressures on our local housing supply, but we are growing our housing stock and also commission more than 700 supporting housing beds across the city.
“We work with some fantastic local charities who provide support to our street homeless community and we will continue to tackle this issue as part of our ongoing commitment to providing quality homes for all.”
Homelessness help
HERE is some useful information if you are homeless or know someone who is experiencing homelessness.
FIRST CONTACT
If you or someone you know is sleeping rough you can use the alert Streelink service to help connect them with outreach services: www.thestreetlink.org.uk/start
FOOD
You can find free food stations via:
The Pavement – for food and soup runs: www.thepavement.org.uk/services
Homeless Link – for day centres: www.homeless.org.uk
The Trussell Trust – for food banks: www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/
Food Cycle – for food services – www.foodcycle.org.uk/free-food-locations/
HOUSING
Councils have a duty to help people who are homeless or facing homelessness. Contact the Housing Options team from the council you have a local connection to and see if they can offer:
Emergency accommodation – a place in a shelter or a hostel Longer-term accommodation including independent or social housingVisit: www.gov.uk/find-local-council
During times of severe cold or heat, local councils have special accommodation known as Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP). Find out more here: www.gov.uk/find-local-council.
For advice, support or legal services related to housing visit www.shelter.co.uk or call 0808 800 4444.
You can also contact Crisis: www.crisis.org.uk/get-help/
For housing advice, call Shelter on 0808 800 4444 or visit: www.shelter.org.uk.
DAY CENTRES
Day centres can help by providing internet access, free or cheap food, shower and laundry facilities, safe storage for belongings, phone charging and clothes, toiletries or sleeping bags.
They can also help with services for benefits or immigration advice; health support; finding work; educational or social activities; hostel, night shelter or outreach referrals.
Centres can be found through Homeless Link: www.homeless.org.uk/
BENEFITS
Normally you can claim Universal Credit if you are sleeping on the streets or staying in a hostel. If you are in a hostel, you can claim Housing Benefit to help with rent. You do not need a fixed address or a bank account.
USEFUL CONTACTS
Crisis – visit: www.crisis.org.uk or call 0300 636 1967.
Shelter – visit: www.shelter.org.uk or call 0808 800 4444.
Centrepoint (for people aged 16-25) – visit: www.centrepoint.org.uk or call 0808 800 0661.
St Mungo’s (Bath, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Christchurch, Leicester, Oxford, Poole and Reading) – visit: www.mungos.org or call 020 3856 6000.
Depaul UK (for young people) – visit: www.depaul.org.uk/ or call 0207 939 1220.
Citizen’s Advice (legal advice) – visit: www.citizensadvice.org.uk or call 0345 404 0506.
The Samaritans (health and wellbeing) – www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan or call 116 123.
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