Crisis is urging the Westminster government to respond to the ‘appalling consequences’ of failing to tackle homelessness in England, as new data shows significant increases in rough sleeping in London and the continued use of costly
temporary accommodation across England.
Figures from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) have today (30 April) shown that more than 2,000 (2,038) people were forced to sleep rough for the first time between January and March this year. This is a 37%
increase on the same period last year, and the biggest year on year rise of people new to the streets since the pandemic [1].
The CHAIN data revealed that the number of people deemed to be living on the capital’s streets has increased by 36% from this time last year [2]. The number of people returning to the streets also increased by 29% year-on-year to
1,637.
In total, 4,118 people were seen sleeping rough in London between January and March 2024, an increase of 33% on the same period last year. Conducted by outreach teams in regular contact with people on the streets, CHAIN is considered
the most thorough approach to collecting data on people sleeping rough.
Meanwhile, the UK Government has published data revealing that the number of households trapped in temporary accommodation in England has reached a new record high. 112,660 households were living in temporary accommodation such as
nightly paid B&Bs between October and December 2023 – an increase of 12% on the same period last year, and an increase of 98% on 2013. This includes over 145,800 children.
Meanwhile the number of households approaching their council for help when facing homelessness rose by 19% compared to the same quarter last year, to 88,940.
People are being forced into homelessness due to a range of factors, including increasing living costs, sky-high rents, section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and a lack of genuinely affordable housing.
Recent reports have demonstrated the financial strain on councils to find affordable long-term homes leading to an increasing need for them to fund emergency temporary accommodation for people with nowhere else to go. With a lack
of social housing, Eastbourne Council is having to spend 49%
of its council tax receipts on temporary accommodation, trapping local residents in often unsuitable housing and denuding the budget for wider local public services.
In recent months, the Westminster Government has been working on a new Criminal Justice Bill that proposes to move on, fine and imprison people perceived as causing a ‘nuisance’ when rough sleeping in England and Wales. In its definition
of ‘nuisance’ and level of fine (£2,500), the Bill goes further than the 1824 Vagrancy Act, which the Government committed to repealing in 2022.
While calling on UK ministers to drop the plans, Crisis is urging the UK Government to focus on proven solutions to prevent and end homelessness – building thousands more social homes annually and increasing investment for person-centred
support services like Housing First. These measures would help people out of temporary accommodation and rough sleeping and enable people to rebuild their lives away from the damaging consequences of homelessness for good.
Matt Downie, Chief Executive at Crisis, said:
“Today’s statistics need to be a wakeup call. We are failing to stop people being forced into homelessness and we are failing to help them back out. Thousands are being pushed onto London’s streets, while hundreds of thousands of
children are without a permanent home. These are the appalling consequences of our failure to get a grip on this crisis.
“The UK government is focused on a plan to fine and imprison people for being without a home. This won’t help people forced to sleep on our streets. It won’t help the families stuck in dingy hostels and B&Bs, from where they must
travel hours to get to work, and their children have no room to play. And it won’t help councils facing bankruptcy because of our repeated failure to build more genuinely affordable homes.
“We desperately need UK ministers to focus on what can and will end homelessness. We need them to get on with building social housing that will help people out of temporary accommodation, and fund support services like Housing First
so people can leave the streets behind. How many more records do we have to break before action is taken?”
