'The forgotten 43': Brighton and Hove has highest homeless death rate in England

• Video report by Andy Dickenson

Brighton and Hove now has the highest death rate among homeless people in England, falling only behind Belfast in the UK.

That's according to new research from the Museum of Homelessness (MoH), which has revealed that 43 homeless people died in the city last year. They are being referred to as the "forgotten 43".

The organisation says there has been an increase in the number of people dying while homeless in the UK.

And it comes at a time when a charity that supports hundreds each week - Sussex Homeless Support - is also finding itself homeless.

The lease on its current home ends on Monday, and it so far hasn't found an alternative.

"From Monday, we're officially homeless ourselves," Jim Deans, who runs the charity and was himself homeless, said.

"We're hoping something will turn up. We're trying everything we can."

Nationwide figures show 1313 homeless people died in 2022, which the organisation said is an 85% increase on the numbers recorded by the study in 2019. 

Regional statistics include people sleeping rough as well as those placed in emergency accommodation and other settings.

Each death has been verified by a freedom of information request, coroners’ report, charity or family member.

As well as the second highest amount of deaths per 100,000 people, Brighton also has the fourth highest amount of homeless deaths in the UK.

1) London - 295

2) Belfast - 56

3) Glasgow - 50

4) Brighton and Hove - 43

5) Edinburgh - 40

6) Liverpool - 25

7) Cardiff - 22

8) Manchester - 21

9) Swansea - 16

Where the person's situation has been revealed, the MoH said 83% of the deaths in 2022 took place after the person was place in some form of homelessness accommodation rather than rough sleeping. 

Exempt accommodation is accommodation that is defined as a type of supported housing that is exempt from usual housing benefit limits because of the added support that is provided for vulnerable people.

The Museum of Homelessness said there have been growing concerns about the quality of accommodation and support.

Matt Turtle, MoH director said: "The fact that so many people continue to die in unregulated, tax payer funded accommodation run by rogue landlords is a disgrace. The upcoming Supported Housing (regulatory oversight) Bill will provide an urgently needed framework to regulate the rogues but its clear local authorities won’t have the resources they need to implement it. The government needs to move past piecemeal measures to address both the immediate crisis and the lack of social housing that causes it."

Brighton and Hove City Council disputes the figures presented by the Museum of Homelessness.

A council spokesperson said: “We deeply regret the death of anyone who has found themselves homeless.

“However, we do not recognise the number of deaths quoted. We do not understand what the figures relate to, or the methods used to collate or verify them.

“Brighton & Hove does have a housing and homelessness crisis. This is a result of national issues such as an inflated housing market, a lack of affordable housing and increasing wealth inequality.

“We are doing all within our power to mitigate this, including building as many new affordable homes as we can and buying back former council homes. But demand will always outstrip supply in the city.

“Each instance of homelessness can be a tragedy for the individuals involved. We work extremely hard to help people avoid this situation.

“People who do become homeless are, by definition, already in crisis. The city has a high level of wide-ranging support for them when they are homeless.

“This includes a significant supply of supported and move-on accommodation for people who have slept rough. We also have a welfare team supporting people in temporary and emergency accommodation, and an outreach service to support people to move away from the streets.

“We have cut the numbers of people rough sleeping by 50% since 2019 based on our annual November counts – from 88 to 41.

“We have also more than trebled the amount of accommodation in the city offering wrap-around support for people who have been homeless.

“If you are threatened with homelessness, please contact our housing team to get advice as soon as possible. We can support you with any problems making it difficult to stay in your home.

“Please fill in our online housing advice form or phone 01273 294 400 followed by Option 1.

“If you are under 26 please email yacbrightonhousingadvice@ ymcadlg.org or phone 01273 624 432.”