You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Number of Londoners living on the streets increased by 23% in lead up to Christmas
More than 400 people were deemed to be living long term on the streets in London in the last three months of 2020 – a 23% increase on the preceding quarter.
More than 400 people were living on the streets in London in the last three months of 2020, latest CHAIN data shows #UKhousing Latest quarterly data from the Greater London Authority found that there were 412 people living on the streets between October and December last year, compared with 336 people between July and September.
The figures were recorded during a period when homelessness charities were warning that the government’s Everyone In scheme, which was introduced to house rough sleepers during the COVID-19 crisis, was not as comprehensive as it was during the early months of the pandemic.
A person is deemed to be living on the streets if they are spotted by outreach workers several times over a multi-week period.
The rise in the number of people living on the streets came despite a 4% decline in the total number of people sleeping rough, including those who were only on the streets for one night, from 3,444 between July and September to 3,307 between October and December.
Read more
Both the total number of people sleeping rough and the number of people living on the streets were 9% lower in the last three months of 2020 compared with the last three months of 2019.
Half of the people seen sleeping rough by outreach workers during the reporting period were non-UK nationals, a trend that is largely in keeping with previous quarters.
In January, a new post-Brexit immigration rule came into force in the UK, which could see rough sleeping used as grounds to cancel or refuse an individual’s leave to remain.
In response to the statistics, Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said: “These statistics paint a worrying picture of homelessness across our capital as 2020 came to a close – with more than 3,000 people sleeping on our streets and more than 400 individuals spending week after week this way.
“Most concerningly, this was against the backdrop of rapidly rising coronavirus cases and temperatures dropping. In such circumstances, being forced to sleep on the streets is not just dangerous, it’s life threatening.
“Since these figures were recorded, and following the third national lockdown, the Westminster government announced funding for councils to redouble efforts to get everyone in, rightly recognising that it was perilous for people to be on the streets. This will have provided a lifeline to many people sleeping rough across the capital.
“Despite this, we are still hearing reports of people falling through the cracks and being denied help – in many cases because of their immigration status.
“We urge government to be crystal clear that ‘everyone in’ must mean everyone, so that no one sleeping rough is denied vital support when the risk to life remains high.
“As the economic impact of the pandemic continues to take its toll, we are in real danger of seeing more people pushed into poverty and homelessness.
“As we look ahead, we must build back better by addressing the lack of genuinely affordable housing which deprives many people of the basic right to a secure home.”
Sign up for our homelessness bulletin
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
Related stories
