The number of rough sleepers rose in almost all of England’s major cities despite a modest fall across the whole country, according to official figures.
Overall there were 4,677 people sleeping rough in England in late 2018, which represents a two per cent fall (equal to 74 people) on a year earlier. This is the first decline in eight years but the total is 165 per cent higher than in 2010. The Government has pledged to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and to eradicate it altogether by 2027.
Almost a third of the rough sleepers were counted in London, where the annual figure rose by 13 per cent. Big rises were also recorded in Birmingham (60 per cent) and Manchester (31 per cent). The place with the largest number of rough sleepers was Westminster, with 306 people on the streets.
Rough sleeping figures fell outside of the metropolitan areas with the biggest falls recorded in the south east, south west and the east of England. Brighton and Hove saw the biggest fall, down 114 per cent to 64 people on the streets.
Charities working with the homeless and rough sleepers believe the true figure is much higher. Research for the charity Crisis undertaken by Heriot Watt University estimates that 12,300 people were sleeping on Britain’s streets last year, with a further 12,000 spending the night in cars, trains, buses or tents.
Fourteen per cent of the people recorded sleeping rough were women, the same as in 2017; and six per cent were aged 25 years or under, compared to eight per cent in 2017.
By Patrick Mooney, editor