New research from CHAIN shows 4,223 people were sleeping rough in London between April and June – an increase of 29% from the same period last year.
According to the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) database – which is commissioned and funded by charity Homeless Link and the Mayor of London – the figures are a record high for a year unaffected by Covid-19.
What’s worse, during 2020 the number of people sleeping rough in the same period was 4,227 – just four more than this year. However, the numbers aren’t as high as the peak experienced between October to December 2023 where it was recorded 4,389 were sleeping rough.
‘It is extremely worrying to see yet another rise in rough sleeping in London,’ said Emma Haddad, chief executive of St Mungo’s – a leading homelessness charity. ‘More and more people are finding themselves on the streets due to rising rents, unaffordable bills or the unexpected loss of employment.’
She added: ‘Our outreach teams are out every day trying to help people out of homelessness, but it’s harder and harder to find options.
‘We look forward to seeing a minister appointed with responsibility for preventing homelessness, so that we can support the new government in bringing their commitment to ending homelessness to life.’
News of the research has come as the national Audit Office called on the government to lead on adopting a ‘genuinely’ cross-departmental approach to talking homelessness.
Against this backdrop, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has pledged to end homelessness by 2030.
John Glenton, the landlord’s executive director for care and support, said: ‘It is very worrying to see the total number of people sleeping rough on the streets of our capital reach a record quarterly high for the April to June period in a year unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘We’re very heartened by Sadiq Khan’s pledge to end rough sleeping in the capital by 2030 – a commitment which was made on the proviso of working in partnership with a Labour government.’
‘We know we can dramatically cut the number of people sleeping rough if targets are set and organisations are given the resources to achieve them,’ Glenton added. ‘These resources include recruiting more outreach workers, greater investment to provide more accommodation for people affected by homelessness and a national housing and homelessness strategy to help deliver the larger investment in social housing this country needs so people can move into long-term housing when they are ready.’
Image: Yeyo Salas
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