Latest official figures show an estimated 4,134 people were forced to sleep outside in 2016, up 16% on the previous year

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The number of people sleeping rough in England has risen for the sixth year in a row, according to the latest official figures.

An estimated 4,134 people bedded down outside in 2016, according to the snapshot survey, an increase of 16% on the previous year’s figure of 3,569, and more than double the 2010 figure.

London accounted for 23% of the England total (960), down slightly from 26% in 2015, with the borough of Westminster (260 cases) recording the highest number of rough sleepers in both the capital and the country.

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After Westminster, the highest incidences of rough sleeping were recorded in Brighton and Hove (144), Cornwall (99), Manchester (78), Luton (76), Bristol (74), Croydon (68), Redbridge (60), Bedford (59) and Birmingham (55).

However Guardian analysis of the figures showed that when population size is taken into account over 100 local authorities recorded rough sleeping rates above the national average in 2016, the bulk of them in the south of England.

On this measure Westminster, Brighton and Hove and Luton still score badly. Other authorities with high recorded rates of rough sleeping relative to household numbers include Cambridge, Canterbury, Exeter, Kings Lynn, Hastings, Mansfield, Oxford, and Southend. Some 29 councils estimated that there were zero rough sleepers in their area at the time of the count last Autumn.

Charities condemned the rise. Jon Sparkes, the chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis, said: “Behind these statistics are thousands of desperate people, sleeping in doorways, bin shelters, stations and parks – anywhere they can find to stay safe and escape the elements.”



John Healey, Labour’s housing spokesman, said the figures reflected seven years of Tory failure: “The number of people sleeping rough fell under Labour but has more than doubled since 2010, and has risen every year under the Conservatives.

“This is a direct result of decisions made by Conservative Ministers: a steep drop in investment for affordable homes, crude cuts to housing benefit, reduced funding for homelessness services, and a refusal to help private renters”.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said the government was investing £550million to 2020 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

“Homelessness is more than just a housing issue so we are now funding projects in 225 local authorities to help those people at risk of becoming homeless, already sleeping rough or those with complex needs, to get back on their feet.”





The rough sleeping statistics come amid rising concern around rising homelessness in England, fuelled by insecure tenancies and rising rents, benefit cuts and shortages of affordable housing in many parts of the country.

There are also fears that widespread local authority cuts to housing support for vulnerable tenants will increase the numbers of people forced to sleep rough.

The government is supporting a private member’s bill, which will oblige councils to make reasonable attempts to prevent residents becoming homeless. However, charities and local authorities have questioned whether government funding of £48m over three years to help implement the bill is sufficient.

Howard Sinclair, the chief executive of St Mungo’s charity, called the figures “nothing short of a scandal” and warned that the government initiatives were not enough to address the scale of the homelessness problem.

UK nationals made up the biggest share of the total rough-sleeping figure, with 17% from EU states and 5% from non-EU countries. Women made up 12% of rough sleepers. People under 25 accounted for 7% of the total.

Rough sleepers are defined for the purposes of official counts as people sleeping, about to bed down or bedded down on the street, in doorways, parks, tents, bus shelters, cars, barns, sheds and other places not designed for habitation.

It does not include people in hostels or shelters or formal temporary accommodation. The housing charity Shelter has estimated that more than 250,000 people in England are homeless or lack a permanent place to live.

Many campaigners believe that the official rough sleeper figures are an underestimate. The separate Chain database, which records the numbers of people in London seen rough sleeping by outreach workers, last June reported 8,096 rough sleepers in the capital in 2015-16.

The robustness of official government rough sleeper figures was questioned just over a year ago by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). It ruled that they lacked “trustworthiness”, were vulnerable to political manipulation, and did not meet the quality standard to be national statistics.



The UKSA noted that the statistics were based on either a single one-night snapshot “count” of rough sleeping in a particular council area, or an estimate based on intelligence supplied by local charities, police and homelessness outreach teams.

The latest rough sleeping figures show that 47 out of 326 councils in England conducted rough sleeping counts (reporting 28% of the rough sleeper total) and 279 relied on estimates, accounting for 2,997 rough sleepers (28%).