London sees ‘21% increase in rough sleepers in a year’ as cost of living rises

The number of rough sleepers in London has risen by 21% in a year amid the deepening cost-of-living crisis, Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned. Analysis by City Hall suggests there were 5,712 people on the capital’s streets between April and September – an increase of more than a fifth from the same period last year. It is understood these figures are selected statistics ahead of a full data release on Monday.

Mr Khan is urging the government to take immediate action to tackle rising bills and housing costs and address the escalating homelessness crisis.

Among the measures he is demanding is an immediate freeze on private rents, lifting the benefits cap, and delivering the promised reforms to housing laws, including ending Section 21 evictions – so-called “no fault” evictions whereby landlords repossess their properties at short notice and without good reason.

The Mayor said 13,500 people have been helped off the capital’s streets since 2016, with eight in 10 staying housed for good.

He praised the “unsung heroes” of outreach workers, charity teams, healthcare professionals and council staff, but said that, despite the progress, extraordinary financial pressures are putting London’s poorest people at risk.

“We continue to see a revolving door of people ending up homeless as a result of this escalating cost-of-living crisis,” he said.

“This cannot be allowed to continue. This new Government must act now to prevent the circumstances that lead to people sleeping rough before thousands more are forced to face a winter on the streets.”

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Rebecca Sycamore, interim chief executive of St Mungo’s, said: “With more price increases, it is very likely many of those currently just scraping by will no longer be able to manage, and could be at real risk of losing their homes and experiencing a very harsh winter." “Action is needed now. We want to see the government uplift benefits in line with inflation, increase the benefit cap and unfreeze Local Housing Allowance rates." “We urge the prime minister and his ministers to act as a matter of urgency to prevent more people ending up homeless this winter.” Rick Henderson, chief executive of Homeless Link, the national membership charity for frontline homelessness organisations in England, said: “The rising cost of living is exacerbating the long-term drivers of homelessness in London, such as a lack of genuinely affordable housing and a poorly funded welfare system." “In light of these statistics, the Government must uplift homeless services’ funding in line with inflation to help them respond to the rising demand, as well as tackling the immediate root causes of homelessness such as reforming the private rental sector and uplifting benefits." “In the long-term we also need to see action on creating many more genuinely affordable homes; otherwise this crisis will continue to spiral.”