Rough sleepers have colonised a city centre apartment block in the latest chapter of Manchester’s homelessness crisis.

Residents in the building on Granby Row, near the Gay Village , have called the police seven times in three weeks after repeatedly finding people sleeping and taking drugs in the basement and corridors.

On Thursday morning, the building’s front door was kicked in by an intruder, and a homeless woman brandishing a rusty knife - thought by police to have been used for taking heroin - was recently removed from the basement.

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

The building first became a magnet for rough sleepers over the summer and is thought to have been accessed through fire doors or by tailgating residents.

Worried neighbours have reported finding excrement and discarded syringes around the building.

The police have stepped up patrols, locks have been changed and officers are studying CCTV to find out what criminal activity has taken place, but the issue has persisted.

One Granby House resident said he felt the homeless problem was simply being ‘moved around’ the city and is thinking about moving because of it.

“I have seen people openly injecting outside which was the final straw,” he said.

“It just makes you feel very uneasy. The mayor, Andy Burnham , and others say they are trying to tackle the issue but it doesn’t look like that to us, it appears the problem is just being moved around.

“I am a proud Mancunian and I just can’t believe what’s happening to my city.

“I have lived with my partner in the city centre for over 12 years, and we love it but even we are now considering packing up and moving out as the situation is becoming increasingly unbearable.”

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Louise Bolotin, one of six directors at Granby RTM, a limited company which runs the services at Granby House, believes that their building is not an isolated example and says that the people living there are sympathetic towards those with nowhere to go.

“Some residents have asked why they think we are being targeted, but I don’t believe we are,” she said. “I know lots of neighbouring blocks and other apartments have had similar issues. It seems to be quite widespread across the city centre.

“It’s a difficult situation and residents do have sympathy and understand they are looking for somewhere safe to sleep and sometimes the accommodation they are offered doesn’t offer that safety.

“On the other hand, they don’t have a right to be here and are trespassing.

“People have a right to feel safe and comfortable in their homes, including in the communal areas.

“We have had meetings with the police and the council to discuss it and we have put further measures in place to try and prevent intruders getting in.”

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Charities say buildings such as apartments blocks and car parks have always been somewhere homeless people will seek out at night, but note that since numbers have risen - including a surge in visible drug use - and support has been cut, the issue has become more acute.

“It’s residential buildings or car parks,” said one city centre charity worker.

“It’s a well known thing and they’ve always done that, but as more and more services close and there isn’t any night time provision - and it’s worth noting there’s no needle exchange on Oldham Street anymore - everything is shifting.

“They are more becoming more visible.”

It's understood more than 20 new rough sleepers were recorded in the city last week and another charity worker said while he hadn’t come across anything on Granby House’s scale before, he wasn’t surprised.

“It’s all symptomatic of the fact that as a city while we’re doing stuff there’s only so much resource,” he said. “So if you’ve got nowhere to live you’re going to try your luck.

“It is common, it is happening, it has always happened but it’s happening more. The problem is getting solutions to people - but there’s always more people becoming homeless because of systemic failures.”

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

City centre councillor Joan Davies said she has been working to find a solution over the last few weeks, alongside the police.

But she insisted the scale of the issue was a ‘very unusual situation’.

“Residents in this building, as everywhere, have a right not only to be safe but also to feel safe within their own homes,” she said.

“Last week, with the support of the council’s city centre neighbourhood manager, a meeting was held to clarify communication processes and the appropriate strategy for dealing with intruders quickly and effectively in a very unusual situation.

“Police officers, council staff, the building’s managing agents, a number of residents and I had a fruitful discussion and action is well under way from all parties.

“Throughout this process the residents I’ve met have maintained their compassion towards people in genuine need.”

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Deputy leader council Bernard Priest said: “We would always offer to support to anyone who is genuinely homeless.

“However, this situation is completely unacceptable and the council’s anti-social behaviour team is working closely with the police and the building’s management company, in liaison with its residents, to ensure it is resolved.”

A spokesman for the building’s managing agents, Rendall & Rittner, said: “We are committed to ensuring that our residents live in a safe environment and we are working with Manchester police to ensure the security of the building and our residents.”

It's understood the council’s rough sleeping department has not yet assessed the people sleeping in the building, so it's unclear what support may be available to them.

When the M.E.N. visited to try to speak to them there did not appear to be anyone there sleeping rough, although drugs paraphernalia and sleeping bags had been discarded under the scaffolding and in bushes nearby.

(Image: PA)

Homelessness remains a highly visible marker of city centre life, with mayor Andy Burnham - who has promised to eradicate rough sleeping by 2020 in his campaign - admitting last month that if anything the problem had got slightly worse since he took office in May.

Nearly £5m of government cash secured for emergency accommodation several months ago has still not been handed over by ministers, although the charity Coffee 4 Craig has recently opened up a new evening service on Oldham Street, run jointly with Centrepoint, and a new hostel is due to open in Cheetham Hill this month.

The M.E.N. has pledged to support and publicise the Manchester Homelessness Charter at appropriate opportunities. If you are affected by issues surrounding homelessness in any way, or if you want to do something to help, click here .