Homeless deaths ‘shocking and shameful’ says CIH

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics revealed there were an estimated 597 deaths of homeless people in England and Wales in 2017, a figure that has increased by 24 per cent over the last five years.

Chartered Institute of Housing chief executive Terrie Alafat responded to the news by saying: “It is shocking and shameful that so many people are dying on the streets of our relatively prosperous countries – and that the number has jumped by almost a quarter in five years.”

The ONS figures are the first official estimates of the number of deaths of homeless people. There were 482 deaths among homeless people in 2013, rising to 597 in 2017. Overall, an estimated 2,627 homeless people have died during the five-year period, which staff at many housing charities consider to be a significant under-estimate.

A detailed breakdown of the ONS figures shows:

  • Men represent 84 per cent of those who died;
  • More than half of the deaths were because of drug poisoning, liver disease or suicide;
  • Deaths increased throughout England, but fell in Wales;
  • London and north-west England had the highest proportion of deaths; and
  • The average age of death was 44 for men and 42 for women, compared with 76 for men and 81 for women among the rest of the population.

Ms Alafat commented: “These statistics are a stark reminder of the suffering at the very sharpest end of our national housing crisis. And we must remember that they are only an estimate, so the true figure could be even higher.

Chronic housing shortage

“We must take action now. In England, the Government’s rough sleeping strategy aims to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027 – this is achievable, but only with the right level of investment and all of us pulling out the stops to end homelessness.

“A chronic shortage of affordable homes combined with the welfare reforms introduced since 2012 has created a toxic mix. To truly get to the root of the problem, the Government must invest in more genuinely affordable housing as well as reviewing the cumulative impact of welfare reforms like the benefit cap, Universal Credit and the housing benefit freeze for private renters.”

Speaking for the Government, Communities Secretary James Brokenshire responded: “No-one is meant to spend their lives on the streets or without a home to call their own. Every death on our streets is too many and it is simply unacceptable to see lives cut short this way.”

Mr Brokenshire said the Government was committing £1.2bn to tackle homelessness, with £100m earmarked to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027.

He added that councils were now required to provide early support for people at risk of having nowhere to live, “boosting access to affordable housing and making renting more secure”.

Labour’s shadow housing minister, Melanie Onn, called the figures shameful and said a Labour government would end rough sleeping within five years. Greg Beales, campaign director at Shelter, called the deaths a source of national shame, “a consequence of a housing system which fails too many people”.

Crisis chief executive Jon Sparkes called on the Government to fix the root causes of homelessness, “like building the number of social homes we need and making sure our welfare system is there to support people when they fall on hard times”.

By Patrick Mooney, editor