Number of rough sleepers in London rises 20% in a year

New rough sleepers made up 66% of all people recorded rough sleeping in London in 2023-24.

More than one in five people (22%) sleeping rough for the first time had been renting privately before they became homeless.

Meanwhile, 2,387 people were deemed by outreach teams to be “living on the streets”. This is 14.5% higher than last year.

UK nationals accounted for 45% of all people seen rough sleeping in 2023-24, down slightly from 49% in 2022-23.

Also, for the first time in 10 years, the proportion of rough sleepers from countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia was higher than the proportion from Europe (excluding the UK), with 30% coming from these areas compared to 25% from Europe.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan blamed the government’s failure to ban Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, despite having promised to do so since 2019.

Mr Khan said: “Rising rough sleeping shames us all, and Tory ministers most of all. After 14 years, the rising number of people sleeping on park benches and in shop doorways in every region of the country is a stark symbol of the Conservatives’ failure in government.

“In London, I’ve quadrupled City Hall’s rough sleeping budget, investing in emergency accommodation, outreach teams and extra cold-weather support.

“However, it’s clear that much more is needed, starting with ending ‘no-fault’ evictions and fixing the chaos in the asylum system which is seeing people moved out of Home Office accommodation and onto the streets.”

Last week, housing secretary Michael Gove told Inside Housing it was more important to pass the government’s leasehold reform bill before the election than the renters’ reform one, because the leasehold bill was “simply a more complex piece of legislation”.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, called the latest rough sleeping figures “deeply shameful”. 

He said: “Sky-high rents, a dire shortage of affordable housing and increased living costs are pushing more people onto the streets. For thousands, this means long nights of trying to stay safe, moving from night bus to night bus or bedding down in a noisy doorway where sleep is all but impossible. None of us should have to experience this.

“But the next government has the power to change things. By rapidly increasing the supply of good-quality, genuinely affordable housing, alongside investing in specialist services, we can help people to leave the streets behind.”

Rick Henderson, chief executive of Homeless Link, said that the next government “cannot continue to kick the can down the road”.

He added: “It must create a cross-government plan to prevent rough sleeping and homelessness through delivering genuinely affordable and secure homes quickly, while making sure there are a diverse range of properly funded homelessness services to help people address the root causes of their destitution and move on from rough sleeping for good.” 

John Glenton, executive director of care and support at Riverside, said it was “extremely disappointing, but not surprising, to see a record high number of people sleeping rough” in the capital.

He continued: “It is also very important to remember that the number of people sleeping rough is sadly just the visible tip of the iceberg when it comes to homelessness.

“Nationally the number of homeless people living in temporary accommodation is more than 60 times higher than the number of people identified as sleeping rough in the annual snapshot.”

Mr Glenton said it was “vital that whoever wins the next election provides ringfenced funding for council homelessness services to prevent cash-strapped local authorities from ending funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services at a time when they are needed the most”.

Emma Haddad, chief executive at St Mungo’s, said: “We are urging whoever forms the next government to treat homelessness as an emergency and prioritise it in their first 100 days.”

“This week we sent an open letter to party leaders with over 50,000 signatures calling for a commitment to extend funding that is critical to help rising numbers of rough sleepers. This will be a crucial first step. Homelessness is complex but it can be prevented by targeting the causes, intervening early and investing in the right approaches.”

In its general election manifesto, the Labour Party has pledged to create a “cross-government strategy to end all forms of homelessness” and immediately end no-fault evictions and improve standards for renters.

Meanwhile, the Conservative Party promised to continue its commitment towards ending rough sleeping and deliver a Renters’ Reform Bill alongside court reforms to end no-fault evictions.