That more than a thousand people are experiencing homelessness in Bermuda is a national disgrace.

That the number is growing is more than that. It demonstrates a callousness and negligence that most Bermudians would feel is alien to their national character.

Bermudians traditionally have been compassionate, giving and caring. And yet the island now must look at itself in the mirror. With some sterling exceptions, including the charity Home, this community is failing those who find themselves in this situation, often through no fault of their own.

Why is Bermuda failing so badly?

It would be easy to lay the blame at the feet of someone else: the Government for failing to get a grip on the housing crisis sooner, international business for allegedly driving up rents at the higher end of the market, landlords for letting out their apartments as Airbnbs, mental health agencies for failing to secure housing for their clients. The list can go on and on.

The reality is that we are all to blame. We have seen this problem grow before our eyes and few people have done anything about it.

It has taken the charity Home to lay the facts before us, and there is no excuse for not acting.

The other reality is that this is indeed a complex problem, and it will not be solved by trying to solve homelessness alone. In other words, building more shelters is not a long-term solution.

Home is correct in saying the problem is worsening because it lies at the intersection of the housing shortage and the cost-of-living crisis. As the charity would attest, it is also more complex than that. Mental health issues and more also contribute.

Shelter alone does not solve deep-seated issues of people coping with trauma. As Home stresses, a cohesive social services system — focused on providing the support each individual needs to progress to stable, independent living — is essential to prevent relapses into homelessness.

It is also fair to say that as Home’s data-gathering expertise grows, it is identifying more people as well. But that does not mean that they were not experiencing homelessness before. The number of “hidden homeless” is undoubtedly higher still.

Nonetheless, addressing the housing shortage is essential, as is reducing the cost of living.

To be fair to the Government, Zane DeSilva, the housing minister, is bringing an energy and zeal to the problem that was lacking before. And while mobile homes planned for Boaz Island are not everyone’s cup of tea and are a long way from the ideal of a Bermuda cottage, they are a necessary stopgap.

The plans for prefabricated housing are also necessary and hardly a new idea. When Sir John Swan was Premier, the Government built hundreds in the 1980s that have stood the test of time despite widespread scepticism.

Mr DeSilva has promised further big announcements and has also hinted at multistorey construction in Hamilton.

This is good news and will relieve both the housing crisis and the homelessness problem. But the Government cannot and should not do it alone. There is a need for innovative solutions in the private sector that are both sustainable and affordable.

This problem will not go away. In part it is driven by the cost of living and the cost of construction, but it is also because of demographic changes, which are unlikely to change.

The research by the Chamber of Commerce that showed how housing sizes have shrunk is immensely valuable in this context.

If the average household size was 2.5 people in 2000 and is now closer to 2, as the Chamber of Commerce estimates, simple arithmetic tells you that you will need 25 per cent more homes. This is the primary reason why Bermuda has a housing crisis even though the population has shrunk and the amount of housing has remained roughly static.

All the other causes — derelict houses, Airbnbs, higher rents at the top end of the market — contribute, but the main cause is this shift in how people live. It is also likely to continue as the population ages.

Solving the problem demands a change as well. If the average household size is declining, then smaller homes — studios to two-bedrooms — need to be supplied.

Given Bermuda’s lack of land, this is where building in Hamilton makes sense. The private sector has demonstrated this can be done, but planners and the Government have failed to require that a portion of these developments should be set aside for affordable housing, as is usually the way in other countries.

Mixed-use and mixed-income developments should be the primary model to prevent these developments becoming stereotyped as ghettoes.

All this takes time. In the meantime, Home has pointed out the absence of a readily accessible emergency shelter for residents of private accommodation to transition into in the event of a crisis. This should be done as a matter of urgency.