I have experience from the charity side of this.
Firstly, homelessness can be tackled; it requires a lot of will and it's really, really difficult.
The people who sleep rough by and large - have mental health problems (chronic and acute), have an addiction problem, have been involved in the criminal justice system and are generally very poorly.
They are also angry and upset.
They can also make terrible tenants because of all the issues above.
The question is why are they like that.
Mostly, they've fallen on hard times and it could be any one of us. Whenever I speak to our homeless community in Hartlepool, it reminds me of how one episode, one missed benefit appointment, losing a job, taking recreational drugs and chasing the auction can precipitate a download spiral in short order.
Moreover, once homeless, it's difficult to resolve any of those things because services look at one individual thing at a time.
So mental health services will not work with someone with an addiction and the addiction services will not work with someone with a mental health problem.
Honestly, it's possibly the only group of our community who cannot be allowed to present with more than one condition at once.
And anyone coming out of prison is treated appallingly.
We have a system that continues to punish people after they have served their time and ultimately creates the conditions where re-offending is almost inevitable. There is no space for forgiveness or for redemption and it's completely unfair and, without sounding callous, I'm offended as a tax payer - it is an absolutely shocking waste of money.
In the time I have been working with our homeless community, there has only been one person who I would agree and say it's a lifestyle choice and it's only because he couldn't cope after being homeless for so long.
And if the Home Secretary wants to take me to court for giving tents and sleeping bags and wind up radio's and torches to people who are not being housed, then to be perfectly honest, I'll take my chances in court.
And one little anecdote; amongst many.
Craig, a man who lost his legs due to substance abuse, couldn't be housed because the council said they didn't have the appropriate accommodation which wouldn't breach the Disability Discrimination Act. So he pitched a donated tent at the back of Aldi as that was the best option.
One year later, he caught sepsis and died.
In that time, only the organisation I worked for went out to see him and to push for him to get a house.
Sadly, all it means is one less problem, he's one less person on the housing list and that's not acceptable - but that's the reality of "lifestyle choice"