Over 1,000 people experiencing homelessness died in 2022, report shows

New research by the Museum of Homelessness has revealed another increase in the number of people dying while homeless in the UK, with nationwide figures reaching 1,313 in 2022 – an 85% increase on the numbers recorded by the 2019 study.

These statistics include people sleeping rough as well as those placed in emergency accommodation and other insecure settings. Each fatality was verified by a freedom of information request, coroners’ report, charity or family member.

The headline figures mask significant regional differences. Last year, fatalities in England rose 22% to 875 and by 27% in Wales to 76. The number of deaths in Northern Ireland fell by a third to 205 but remain more than double the level seen in 2020 after a major spike last year. Scotland recorded a 15% decrease with 157 fatalities. This limited the UK-wide increase compared to the 1,286 deaths in 2021.

The real numbers are likely to be higher due to certain local authorities refusing to contribute to the research over the last two years, including Hackney, Lewisham and Birmingham.

Where the person’s situation was known, 83% of the deaths in 2022 took place after they were placed in some form of homelessness accommodation rather than rough sleeping.

For the first time, the researchers specifically asked about deaths in exempt accommodation and found that only 12 local authorities held this information. Exempt accommodation is a type of supported housing that is exempt from usual housing benefit limits because of the added support provided for vulnerable people.

There have been growing concerns about the quality of this accommodation and support. Of the 12 councils who responded, Manchester reported 109 deaths in exempt accommodation across just 98 properties – compared to 21 deaths among the rest of the homeless population in Manchester.

More people died in exempt accommodation in Manchester than were recorded in the whole of Wales, suggesting the headline figures underreport the true scale of the crisis.

The Museum did not include data from this part of the study in its headline figures to ensure they could be compared year on year.

Museum of Homelessness Director, Matt Turtle, said: ‘The fact that so many people continue to die in unregulated, tax payer funded accommodation run by rogue landlords is a disgrace. The upcoming Supported Housing (regulatory oversight) Bill will provide an urgently needed framework to regulate the rogues but it’s clear local authorities won’t have the resources they need to implement it. The government needs to move past piecemeal measures to address both the immediate crisis and the lack of social housing that causes it.’

Of the cases where the cause of death is known, 36% related to drugs and alcohol and 10% died by suicide. Cuts to services since 2010 have led to fatal slowness and conditionality in drug and alcohol services, with people having to wait years to get help.

Image: Levi Meir Clancy