Oxford Council has started fining its rough sleepers. We should resist this ghettoisation of Britain

We are in danger of sanitising life for the affluent at the expense of the less fortunate

Metal spikes, alarms, bright lights and fines are all being used to dissuade rough sleepers (Getty Images)

A friend recently moved out of London, saying he couldn’t cope with living there any more. Travelling took too long, it was too expensive to find somewhere to live that wasn’t on the edge of the Tube map, and it was crowded and dirty.

As a Londoner born and bred, who has spent all my working life in the heart of the city, his decision left me feeling sad. When you are tired of London, you are tired of life, in my humble opinion, but his view is increasingly common.

Last year, more people than ever moved out of the city – including over 34,000 thirty-somethings – compared with 20,000 in 2016.

All major cities have always been crowded and confrontational with the very rich and very poor living side by side, in places like north Kensington and Shoreditch. It wasn’t much different in Pepys’s or Dickens’s day. Now, though, we are in danger of sanitising life for the affluent at the expense of the less fortunate.

Already, a huge number of properties in the centre of our cities have been bought as investments and sit dark and unoccupied. In many new residential developments, luxury flats sit alongside “affordable” homes required by local councils as part of planning consent, and there are two doors – one opening into a posh hall with a concierge and another for the common people. These are modern ghettos, bizarre when we all use the same supermarkets and transport systems.

As for the homeless, now they are being singled out as “detrimental” to the “quality of life” in a neighbourhood. The wealthy city of Oxford has a high number of rough sleepers, but a shelter that provided 61 beds closed last year after council funding was withdrawn. Now the council wants to fine rough sleepers up to £2,500, claiming their presence is “detrimental” to the area, and they must remove their bags and belongings. In other cities, retailers and residential buildings increasingly use spikes, alarms and intrusive lighting to keep homeless people away from their doorways and exits.

A city has to be a home to everyone, not just the fortunate.