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Number of estimated homeless deaths rises by 22%
The number of people estimated to have died while homeless in 2018 increased by more than a fifth when compared with the previous year.
Last year the government estimated there were 726 homeless deaths, which is the highest number since records began in 2013 and 22% higher than the 597 deaths recorded in 2017.
The majority of homeless deaths in 2018 were among men, with 641 estimated male deaths (88%), compared with 85 female deaths. The mean age of death was 45 for men and 43 for women in 2018, compared with a national average age of 76 for men and 81 for women.
Over 40% of estimated deaths were related to drug poisoning, the number of deaths from this cause rose by 55% from 190 in 2017, compared with 294 last year.
As there is currently no specific way to record when someone is homeless when they die, the government used a combination of death records and a statistical model to estimate how many people died while homeless each year.
The Office for National Statistics said that the method used provides a “robust but conservative” estimate, which they said means real numbers may be higher.
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Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said: “Behind these statistics are human beings, who like all of us had talents and ambitions. They shouldn’t be dying unnoticed and unaccounted for.
“It’s crucial that governments urgently expand the safeguarding system used to investigate the deaths of vulnerable adults to include everyone who has died while street homeless, so we can help prevent more people from dying needlessly. Because in this day and age there is no excuse for anyone dying without a safe place to call home.”
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “This is a moment to pause and reflect on what matters to us as a society. These tragic deaths are the consequence of a housing system and economy that is failing too many of our fellow citizens.
“We desperately need to set a new course and to do that we need urgent action.”
