“With the mayoral and London Assembly elections this week, and a general election to come, we urge those elected to make ending homelessness a priority. Homelessness devastates lives, and our collective focus must be on preventing it at all costs. “
An increase in the number of rough sleepers from outside the UK is one of the biggest reasons why London has seen rising rough sleeping.
A total of 1,633 people originally from the UK were spotted sleeping rough in London between January and March this year, up from 1,338 people a year ago.
But a rise in the number of people sleeping rough who originate from abroad – in the months after Home Office efforts to clear the asylum backlog – has seen the proportion of UK rough sleepers drop from 48.5% a year ago to 43.7% at the start of this year.
Non-UK nationals now make up almost 57% of London’s rough sleeping population – a 9% increase on the proportion in the same quarter last year, and a 48% increase in non-UK, non-European Economic Area nationals over the same period.
The number of people experiencing street homelessness from Africa has almost trebled in that time from 261 to 661 while numbers from Asia have almost doubled from 248 to 434.
Jo Carter, chief executive of Glass Door Homeless Charity, said there was a “massive and incredibly worrying rise in demand” for their emergency shelters over the winter.
The charity saw 1,568 people register for a place as temperatures plummeted between November 2023 and April this year, up 70% on the previous year. In total, Glass Door saw 542 people stay in shelters over the winter.
Carter said the latest Chain figures are yet more evidence the government’s target of ending rough sleeping by 2024 is not going to be achieved.
“The government committed to ending rough sleeping by 2024, this commitment will not be met and instead the latest Chain data shows that we are seeing that yet, again, the number of people having to sleep rough across London is growing,” said Carter.
“The cost of living crisis and housing crisis combined create a situation where people cannot find anywhere they can afford in London. Sky-high private rents, a shortage of social housing and Section 21 evictions have left far too many people in impossible situations. We call on the government to take urgent action to address these issues so that rough sleeping can finally be eliminated.”
Rick Henderson, chief executive at Homeless Link, the national membership body for frontline homelessness services, said the figures show “the government’s rough sleeping strategy has clearly failed”.
Youth homelessness charities Centrepoint and New Horizon Youth Centre jointly called the figures, which counted nearly 400 young people on London’s streets, a “national scandal”.
New Horizon, London’s only open access homeless day centre specifically for under 25s, had the busiest day in its 55-plus year history. In just one day, 81 young people experiencing homelessness came through its doors. Since the pandemic, the number of young people going to the centre has increased by a third.
Centrepoint’s head of policy, research and campaigns Alicia Walker said “We need the government to meet its commitment to end rough sleeping and we already know it can be done. In the first Lockdown the Everyone In initiative got vulnerable people off the streets, guaranteeing them safe accommodation and access to support. This proves rough sleeping is, and has always been, a political choice.”
“The cost of that political choice is abundantly clear: hundreds more vulnerable young people risking assault or worse because they have nowhere safe to stay and charities and local governments facing the impossible task of balancing already insufficient resources against surging demand.”
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