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Nearly 600 die while homeless
Almost 600 homeless people died in England and Wales last year after a rise of 24% in just four years.
New “experimental” data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today estimates that 597 people perished while sleeping rough or using emergency accommodation in 2017.
That is up from an estimated 565 homeless deaths in 2016 and 475 in 2014.
The figures are the first official estimates of how many people are dying while homeless. The ONS said they are “a robust but conservative estimate, so the real numbers may still be higher”.
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Men accounted for 84% of the deaths in 2017, at an average age of 44. The average age of death for homeless women was 42.
More than half the deaths were the result of drug poisoning, liver disease or suicide.
Another nine were classified by the ONS as “assault”.
London and the North West of England had the highest proportion of deaths.
Housing secretary James Brokenshire said: “No one is meant to spend their lives on the streets, or without a home to call their own. Every death on our streets is too many and it is simply unacceptable to see lives cut short this way.
“That’s why we are investing £1.2bn to tackle homelessness and have bold plans backed by £100m to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027.
“I am also committed to ensuring independent reviews into the deaths of rough sleepers are conducted, where appropriate, so that important lessons are learned – and I will be holding local authorities to account in doing just that.”
Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “It is shocking and shameful that so many people are dying on the streets of our relatively prosperous countries – and that the number has jumped by almost a quarter in five years. These statistics are a stark reminder of the suffering at the very sharpest end of our national housing crisis.
“To truly get to the root of the problem, the government must invest in more genuinely affordable housing, as well as reviewing the cumulative impact of welfare reforms like the benefit cap, Universal Credit and the housing benefit freeze for private renters.”
