Rough-sleeping figures in London have hit a record high, with 8,855 people recorded as bedding down on the capital’s street last year, according to annual Chain figures published by by the Greater London Authority.

The 18% year-on-year rise in 2018-19 was called a “national disgrace” by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who blamed the crisis on welfare reforms and a lack of investment in social housing.

The latest figures were two and half times the equivalent number recorded in 2009-10, when 3,673 people were identified as rough sleeping.

5,529 new rough sleepers were spotted on the capital’s streets last year – equivalent to 15 people a day finding themselves sleeping rough for the first time. More than a third had lost private rented accommodation.

Khan said: “The rise in rough sleeping across the country and in London is a national disgrace and at City Hall we have doubled our rough-sleeping budget and the size of our outreach team, helping record numbers of rough sleepers.

“But the figures show more and more people continue to be forced on to the streets by the government’s policies – from welfare cuts to a lack of investment in social housing. This includes non-UK nationals who, thanks to a woeful lack of action from ministers, support services are often unable to help.

“This cannot be ignored any longer. Government must urgently act to resolve long-standing immigration issues and provide access to accommodation and employment, if we are to ever end this crisis.”

UK nationals accounted for 49% of rough sleepers in the capital. Rough sleepers from central European countries, including Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Bulgaria accounted for 31% of the total.

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The local authority areas in the capital with the biggest concentrations of rough sleepers were: Westminster (2,512); Camden (815); Newham (612); City of London (441); and Southwark (435).

Homelessness services helped 2,379 rough sleepers into accommodation or to return to their home area or country over the year – equivalent to 27% of rough sleepers seen over the year.

Quick guide Rough sleeping and homelessness in the UK Show Hide Is rough sleeping getting worse? The government claims rough sleeping in England fell for the first time in eight years in 2018, from 4,751 in 2017 to 4,677. But the body that oversees the quality of official statistics in the UK has said the number should not be trusted after 10% of councils changed their counting methods. Rough sleeping in London has hit a record high, with an 18% rise in 2018-19. The numbers of people sleeping rough across Scotland have also risen, with 2,682 people reported as having slept rough on at least one occasion. Shelter, whose figures include rough sleepers and people in temporary accommodation, estimate that overall around 320,000 people are homeless in Britain. What’s being done about rough sleeping? The government’s Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, which places new duties on state institutions to intervene earlier to prevent homelessness has been in force for more than a year, but two thirds of councils have warned they cannot afford to comply with it. In 2018, James Brokenshire, the housing secretary, announced a one-off £30m funding pot for immediate support for councils to tackle rough sleeping. How does the law treat rough sleepers? Rough sleeping and begging are illegal in ENgland and Wales under the Vagrancy Act 1824, which makes ‘wandering abroad and lodging in any barn or outhouse, or in any deserted or unoccupied building, or in the open air, or under a tent, or in any cart or wagon, and not giving a good account of himself or herself’ liable to a £1,000 fine. Leading homelessness charities, police and politicians have called on the government to scrap the law. Since 2014, councils have increasingly used public space protection orders to issue £100 fines. The number of homeless camps forcibly removed by councils across the UK has more than trebled in five years, figures show, prompting campaigners to warn that the rough sleeping crisis is out of control and has become an entrenched part of life in the country. Is austerity a factor in homelessness? A Labour party analysis has claimed that local government funding cuts are disproportionately hitting areas that have the highest numbers of deaths among homeless people. Nine of the 10 councils with the highest numbers of homeless deaths in England and Wales between 2013 and 2017 have had cuts of more than three times the national average of £254 for every household. What are the health impacts of rough sleeping? A study of more than 900 homeless patients at a specialist healthcare centre in the West Midlands found that they were 60 times more likely to visit A&E in a year than the general population in England. Homeless people were more likely to have a range of medical conditions than the general population. While only 0.9% of the general population are on the register for severe mental health problems, the proportion was more than seven times higher for homeless people, at 6.5%.

Just over 13% of homeless men have a substance dependence, compared with 4.3% of men in the general population. For women the figures were 16.5% and 1.9% respectively. In addition, more than a fifth of homeless people have an alcohol dependence, compared with 1.4% of the general population. Hepatitis C was also more prevalent among homeless people.

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The figures from Chain (Combined Homelessness and Information Network) are an ongoing record of rough sleepers identified by outreach workers throughout the year.

They are regarded as a more accurate estimate of rough-sleeping numbers than the official street count, which is based on a single-night snapshot. Official statistics recorded 1,283 rough sleepers in the capital in 2018.

The chief executive of Crisis, Jon Sparkes, said: “It’s simply unforgivable that more and more people are being forced to sleep rough on our streets, facing incredible dangers every day, in large part because they cannot afford to keep their homes. This cannot go on. We know with the right safety nets in place – like a housing-benefit system which truly covers the costs of renting – we can tackle the root causes and stop people becoming homeless in the first place.”