Multiple housing offers for Guernsey rough sleeper

Tian said he "really appreciates all the nice messages" he had received over the last few days

A Guernsey man who spent two weeks sleeping rough has received multiple offers of accommodation after his story went public.

Tian, 29, spent his first night sleeping rough at the island's bathing pools in St Peter Port, before buying a tent and finding a different spot on the island to sleep.

He received several short and long-term offers for rooms, as well as other offers of support from islanders following an interview with the BBC.

Tian said he "really appreciates all the nice messages" he had received over the last few days, adding "I'm on the up".

Tian said: “Just remember that, although I got help, there are a lot of people out there that aren't receiving the same treatment I got for speaking.

“Whilst I got a good ending, there are too many local and non-local people going the same thing.”

He said it was “time for the States to start tackling this for its own people”.

Housing crisis

Homelessness charity At Home in Guernsey said more than 25 new people facing homelessness had contacted it to ask for help during June alone.

CEO Charlie Cox said Tian was "not going to be the only" person sleeping rough and there would "be other people in the future", as long as the island's housing crisis continued.

Deputy Steve Williams, president of Housing, previously told the BBC he recognised the island had a "hidden homelessness" problem and needed to "do something about it".

Williams said emergency housing was "a priority" and he wanted to look at alternative emergency housing options to "increase the supply" in the short-term.

He said: "There must be buildings out there [we could use temporarily] to try and alleviate the problem... ideally at a minimal cost".