A charity has said the increase in rough sleeping is down partly to people being evicted from private rental accommodation“because the landlord wants to double the rent.”
Data released over the weekend, covering the October to December 2024 quarter, show that 4,612 people were recorded as rough sleeping in London.
This is an increase of 5% on the same period a year earlier.
The data also shows that during this period 2,115 people were rough sleeping for the first time, a 7% decrease on the same figure the year before; while 1,872 people were intermittently rough sleeping, 16% higher than in the comparable period of 2023.
Some 704 people deemed to be living on the streets, 26% higher than the same figure the year before, and that amongst the rough sleepers some 1,767 or 50.1% had a mental health support need.
Emma Haddad, the chief executive of St Mungo’s charity, says in response: “That the latest rough sleeping figures for London have continued to rise is incredibly concerning. Behind every number is a person who has spent the night on the pavement in winter.
“… We simply have to change the system so that people are getting help that prevents them having to sleep rough in the first place.
“A homelessness system focused on prevention means no one released from prison or hospital or care onto the streets; no one evicted from their accommodation because the landlord wants to double the rent; no one unable to find anywhere affordable to live because housing benefit has been frozen. There are tangible things that would prevent people having no choice but to sleep rough, and we know they are achievable by working together.”