Rough sleeping in London increases 60 per cent
Rough sleeping in London has increased by 60 per cent over the past two years as welfare reforms and cuts to front line services continue to bite, a report has revealed.
A study by homelessness charity Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published on Friday shows there was a rise of 13 per cent in recorded rough sleeping in 2012/13 in the capital, pushing the two year increase to more than 60 per cent. The rate of rough sleeping across England grew 6 per cent in 2012, but a slower rate than the 2011 figure of 23 per cent.
‘Front line services available to homeless people continue to be reduced, with the prospect of more significant cuts to come in many areas,’ the report said.
‘Some representatives felt that this weakening in support for the most vulnerable was undermining their ability to sustain accommodation, and may be contributing to a rise in rough sleeping.’
For the past three years, statutory homelessness acceptances have surged by more than a third (34 per cent), but the rise in 2012/13 (at 6 per cent) was lower than the previous year (14 per cent).
Loss of private sector tenancies accounted for 22 per cent of all homelessness acceptances in 2012/13 in England and this factor has now become the single largest reason for statutory homelessness in London.
The report also said there had been a 14 per cent increase in the number of bed and breakfast placements in England, with use of temporary accommodation rising by 10 per cent.
The number of households being placed in temporary accommodation outside their home district doubled since 2010, the study said.
Leslie Morphy, chief executive of Crisis, said: ‘We keep hearing that the economy is on the mend. Yet as we watch our GDP figures slowly rise, cuts to housing benefit and woefully inadequate house building will keep pushing up homelessness. Shamefully, it is the poorest and most vulnerable that are bearing the brunt.’
