Rough sleeping in London soars as landlords profit

Around 166,000 people living in London are estimated to be homeless

Rough sleeping in London has rocketed by 21 percent, with over 1,700 more people on the streets than last year. People sleeping on the streets of the capital went from 8,329 in 2021/22 to 10,053 in 2022/23. 

A lack of genuinely affordable homes, rising rents, the cost of living, insecure work, low wages and a failing welfare system have pushed more people into homelessness. And the figures don’t include homelessness other than rough sleeping—such as living in squats or sofa surfing.

Some 300,000 people are estimated to be homeless across Britain on any night, from rough sleeping to sofa surfing. Rough sleeping fell in London last year following the Everyone In initiative set up during the pandemic. This has subsequently been scrapped.

The Combined Homelessness and Information Network said the new rise was “likely to be a reflection of increases in the cost of living”. And it pointed to “the winding down of Covid-19 emergency provisions”.

This is reflected in the number of people sleeping rough for the first time—up by 26 percent on last year to 6,391. And the number of those who returned to living on the streets after more than a year without rough sleeping saw a 31 percent increase to 1,578.

London councils’ recent analysis also reveals over the last year boroughs have seen a 167 percent increase in homeless families living in temporary B&B accommodation. That’s down to a lack of social housing in London, and a rise in private rented houses that councils pay for instead. 

Overall, some 166,000 people living in London are estimated to be homeless and living in temporary accommodation. That includes 81,000 children, meaning one in every 23 children in London is homeless. 

St Mungo’s homelessness charity boss Emma Haddad said the rise in rough sleeping is “a tragic reflection of the cost of living crisis and the severe lack of affordable housing”.

Yet Haddad is refusing to give over 800 Unite union members at St Mungo’s a proper pay rise. 

Many of those workers—who are on indefinite strike—now face homelessness because of their poverty wages and rising rents. They are angry about the cuts to frontline services that are critical for street homeless people.

London mayor Sadiq Khan’s solution is to proclaim that nearly 120,000 affordable homes have been built in the capital since 2015. But these houses are far from affordable, with rent prices dictated by developers.

Meanwhile, only one in 20 private rented homes are now affordable. Soaring rents have come on top of a freeze in housing benefit rates since April 2020. It means that homes paid for by housing benefits are down from 23 percent in April 2020 to 5 percent now.

Rents on housing website Zoopla increased by 10 percent every month from February 2022 to January 2023. The Renters’ Reform Bill is set to ban no-fault evictions and protect those who can’t pay their rents from immediate eviction. But the real solution is to introduce rent freezes and controls—and a massive programme of council house building. 

Without it, homelessness, rough sleeping and people trapped in temporary accommodation will continue to spiral.