More than 300,000 people in Britain homeless today

Posted 08 Nov 2017

In the most extensive review of its kind, the housing charity combined official rough-sleeping, temporary accommodation and social services figures. This showed the number of homeless people in Britain has increased by 13,000 in a year. However, as government records are not definitive the true figure of homelessness is likely to be even higher.

Shelter has launched an urgent appeal in response to this mounting crisis, calling on the public to support its frontline advisers as they work tirelessly to help people to stay in their home or find a new one.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “It’s shocking to think that today, more than 300,000 people in Britain are waking up homeless. Some will have spent the night shivering on a cold pavement, others crammed into a dingy, hostel room with their children. And what is worse, many are simply unaccounted for.

“On a daily basis, we speak to hundreds of people and families who are desperately trying to escape the devastating trap of homelessness. A trap that is tightening thanks to decades of failure to build enough affordable homes and the impact of welfare cuts.

The charity’s report, ‘Far from alone: Homelessness in Britain in 2017’ also shows just how hard it can be to escape homelessness amid a drought of affordable homes and welfare reforms, such as the freeze on housing benefit and recent roll-out of Universal Credit.

“As this crisis continues to unfold, the work of our frontline services remains absolutely critical. We will do all we can to make sure no-one is left to fight homelessness on their own. But we cannot achieve this alone; we urgently need the public’s support to be there for everyone who needs us right now.”

In England, where more people are affected, over a third of those living in temporary accommodation will still be homeless in a year’s time.

One in every 200 people in England is currently homeless. However, to identify where the epidemic is most acute, the charity mapped the top 50 hotspots with the highest levels of homelessness in the country.

Newham topped the list where 1 in every 25 people are homeless. This was closely followed by Haringey (1 in 29), Westminster (1 in 31), and Enfield (1 in 33). But it is not just in the capital where the picture is alarmingly bleak. Areas such as Luton, where 1 in 52 people are homeless, Birmingham (1 in 88) and Manchester (1 in 154) also feature in the top 50.

Case study: Victoria, 72, from London, is living in temporary accommodation after being made homeless because her landlord decided to sell her privately rented home, and she couldn’t find anywhere else to go.

Victoria said: “After getting my eviction notice I desperately tried to find another place to rent but to no avail. I found landlords either didn’t want to let to someone on housing benefit, even though I’ve always paid my rent, or the properties were simply too expensive for me.

“Presenting myself as homeless was in itself humiliating and scary. You’re left sitting around for hours, waiting to find out if you’ll have a place to stay that night. I’m in temporary accommodation now. I spend every day dealing with letting agents, searching for a place to rent, or just some way out of here. If I get the chance to visit a friend’s house it’s so hard to come back to this place afterwards, and leave behind the warm environment a of a real home.

“The whole thing makes me feel like there is something wrong with me. I’ve moved around a lot, and yet for the first time in my life I feel like I have no control over my situation. I’m not easily scared, but the fear is terrible – you just don’t know where you are doing to end up. I’m in a constant state of anxiety and stress. I hope that finally with Shelter’s help, I might one day find a safe place to call home again.”

To support Shelter’s urgent appeal please visit www.shelter.org.uk or text SHELTER to 70080 to donate £3.

Notes to editors:

Heatmap of homelessness hotspots in England

Heat map shows homelessness rates in each LHA

See the full report.
This analysis estimates the total numbers of recorded homeless people (adults and children) in Britain at the most recent point in time possible.
To arrive at a figure for the number of homeless people in England we have added together figures on different forms of recorded homelessness. Most of these are from official sources (DCLG figures on temporary accommodation and rough sleeping), plus Social Services figures via an FOI and figures on single homeless hostel bed spaces from Homeless Link’s annual report that have been adjusted down for voids and double-counting.
Figures for Wales and Scotland have been added in and estimated using households in temporary accommodation and multiplying by England’s average people per household in temporary accommodation and rough sleeping data (available for Wales only).
The local level figures are drawn from two of these sources only - rough sleeping and temporary accommodation, because the other datasets are at a regional level only. Local figures are only available for England due to the lack of detailed data for Scotland and wales.
Our estimates are then used in conjunction with the latest ONS population estimates (mid-year 2016) to produce '1 in x people'.
The figures should be viewed as robust lower-end estimates of recorded homelessness. Numerous conservative assumptions have been built into the analysis. For example, that 'other' household types in the temporary accommodation figures contain only two people when they will contain a minimum of two. Additionally, the hostel bed spaces data from Homeless Link has been adjusted down to account for voids (10%) and down much further by assuming that all single people in TA took one of these bed spaces each. Additionally, responses to the FOI on social services arranged TA were incomplete, so this has to be an underestimate.
The figures do not include 'hidden' or unrecorded homelessness which is very difficult to quantify, but known to be sizeable. A poll of 2,000 UK adults commissioned by Homeless Link in December 2013, found that 32% of people have experienced homelessness (including sofa surfing and staying with friends) or know someone who has experienced homelessness. 14% had experienced it themselves, 20% knew someone else who had experienced it, 2% said they had both experienced it and knew others who had.”
The ONS Population estimate for the Newcastle upon Tyne Local Authority area is 296,478 (2016 mid-year population estimates, ONS).
We have estimated what proportion of households will still be temporary accommodation (TA) one year from now using the TA duration and stock data from DCLG Temporary accommodation live tables – (779, 777 & 775). By applying the duration in TA proportions (Table 779 – under 6 months, between 6-12 etc.) for households leaving TA to the corresponding stock value we could model entry points in time for households into TA. The duration in TA proportions data is broadly consistent for each quarter, meaning this model generates consistent results. The data is published quarterly, therefore, we could estimate, for each quarter, which households would subsequently remain in TA for over 12 months. The final figure is a four quarters summation of households in TA for at least 1 year. Over recent years the number of households leaving TA per quarter has been consistently higher than those joining despite the overall number of households in in TA increasing. We have assumed therefore that some households are accepted into TA each quarter without being captured in official statistics.

Table 1: Top 50 areas with highest rates of recorded as homelessness (comprises temp. accommodation and rough sleeping figures only)

Local Authority	Region	Number of people living in TA	Number of people rough sleeping	Total homeless people	Total people	1 in x people are homeless	National Rank
Newham	London	13,566	41	13,607	340,978	25	1
Haringey	London	9,688	29	9,717	278,451	29	2
Westminster	London	7,794	260	8,054	247,614	31	3
Enfield	London	10,051	6	10,057	331,395	33	4
Kens & Chels	London	4,387	14	4,401	156,726	36	5
Waltham Forest	London	7,587	47	7,634	275,843	36	6
Brent	London	8,881	24	8,905	328,254	37	7
Barking & Dag	London	5,573	5	5,578	206,460	37	8
Tower Hamlets	London	7,417	11	7,428	304,854	41	9
Hackney	London	6,150	17	6,167	273,526	44	10
Redbridge	London	6,197	60	6,257	299,249	48	11
Lewisham	London	6,198	16	6,214	301,867	49	12
Hamm & Fulham	London	3,515	6	3,521	179,654	51	13
Luton	East of England	4,113	76	4,189	216,791	52	14
Ealing	London	6,529	27	6,556	343,196	52	15
Croydon	London	7,007	68	7,075	382,304	54	16
Barnet	London	7,011	22	7,033	386,083	55	17
Lambeth	London	5,656	17	5,673	327,910	58	18
Southwark	London	4,955	32	4,987	313,223	63	19
Brighton & Hove	South East	4,074	144	4,218	289,229	69	20
Wandsworth	London	4,590	5	4,595	316,096	69	21
Bromley	London	4,478	3	4,481	326,889	73	22
Broxbourne	East of England	1,301	3	1,304	96,779	74	23
Bexley	London	2,918	11	2,929	244,760	84	24
Birmingham	West Midlands	12,730	55	12,785	1,124,569	88	25
Kingston	London	1,910	23	1,933	176,107	91	26
Hounslow	London	2,744	34	2,778	271,139	98	27
Harrow	London	2,358	10	2,368	248,752	105	28
Milton Keynes	South East	2,358	38	2,396	264,479	110	29
Islington	London	1,916	11	1,927	232,865	121	30
Harlow	East of England	681	20	701	85,995	123	31
City of London	London	25	50	75	9,401	125	32
Havering	London	1,932	24	1,956	252,783	129	33
Slough	South East	1,092	25	1,117	147,181	132	34
Hillingdon	London	2,166	28	2,194	302,471	138	35
Watford	East of England	662	13	675	96,773	143	36
Sutton	London	1,331	8	1,339	202,220	151	37
Manchester	North West	3,433	78	3,511	541,263	154	38
Gosport	South East	527	6	533	85,363	160	39
Dartford	South East	633	9	642	105,543	164	40
Reading	South East	956	22	978	162,666	166	41
Bristol, City of	South West	2,600	74	2,674	454,213	170	42
Basildon	East of England	1,062	17	1,079	183,378	170	43
Dacorum	East of England	867	6	873	152,692	175	44
Epsom & Ewell	South East	425	3	428	79,588	186	45
Peterborough	East of England	1,021	21	1,042	197,095	189	46
Camden	London	1,254	17	1,271	246,181	194	47
New Forest	South East	886	4	890	179,236	201	48
Greenwich	London	1,379	8	1,387	279,766	202	49
Chelmsford	East of England	817	14	831	174,089	209	50
Newham	London	13,566	41	13,607	340,978	25	1
Haringey	London	9,688	29	9,717	278,451	29	2
Westminster	London	7,794	260	8,054	247,614	31	3
Enfield	London	10,051	6	10,057	331,395	33	4
Kens & Chels	London	4,387	14	4,401	156,726	36	5
Waltham Forest	London	7,587	47	7,634	275,843	36	6
Brent	London	8,881	24	8,905	328,254	37	7
Barking & Dag	London	5,573	5	5,578	206,460	37	8
Tower Hamlets	London	7,417	11	7,428	304,854	41	9
Hackney	London	6,150	17	6,167	273,526	44	10
Redbridge	London	6,197	60	6,257	299,249	48	11
Lewisham	London	6,198	16	6,214	301,867	49	12
Hamm & Fulham	London	3,515	6	3,521	179,654	51	13
Luton	East of England	4,113	76	4,189	216,791	52	14
Ealing	London	6,529	27	6,556	343,196	52	15
Croydon	London	7,007	68	7,075	382,304	54	16
Barnet	London	7,011	22	7,033	386,083	55	17
Lambeth	London	5,656	17	5,673	327,910	58	18
Southwark	London	4,955	32	4,987	313,223	63	19
Brighton & Hove	South East	4,074	144	4,218	289,229	69	20
Wandsworth	London	4,590	5	4,595	316,096	69	21
Bromley	London	4,478	3	4,481	326,889	73	22
Broxbourne	East of England	1,301	3	1,304	96,779	74	23
Bexley	London	2,918	11	2,929	244,760	84	24
Birmingham	West Midlands	12,730	55	12,785	1,124,569	88	25
Kingston	London	1,910	23	1,933	176,107	91	26
Hounslow	London	2,744	34	2,778	271,139	98	27
Harrow	London	2,358	10	2,368	248,752	105	28
Milton Keynes	South East	2,358	38	2,396	264,479	110	29
Islington	London	1,916	11	1,927	232,865	121	30
Harlow	East of England	681	20	701	85,995	123	31
City of London	London	25	50	75	9,401	125	32
Havering	London	1,932	24	1,956	252,783	129	33
Slough	South East	1,092	25	1,117	147,181	132	34
Hillingdon	London	2,166	28	2,194	302,471	138	35
Watford	East of England	662	13	675	96,773	143	36
Sutton	London	1,331	8	1,339	202,220	151	37
Manchester	North West	3,433	78	3,511	541,263	154	38
Gosport	South East	527	6	533	85,363	160	39
Dartford	South East	633	9	642	105,543	164	40
Reading	South East	956	22	978	162,666	166	41
Bristol, City of	South West	2,600	74	2,674	454,213	170	42
Basildon	East of England	1,062	17	1,079	183,378	170	43
Dacorum	East of England	867	6	873	152,692	175	44
Epsom & Ewell	South East	425	3	428	79,588	186	45
Peterborough	East of England	1,021	21	1,042	197,095	189	46
Camden	London	1,254	17	1,271	246,181	194	47
New Forest	South East	886	4	890	179,236	201	48
Greenwich	London	1,379	8	1,387	279,766	202	49
Chelmsford	East of England	817	14	831	174,089	209	50

Compiled from official statistics on temporary accommodation (as at Q2 2017) and rough sleeping (Autumn 2016). TA figures adjusted to estimate total number of people (adults and children), rather than households.

Table 2: National and regional results

Region	Number of people living in TA [1]	Number of people rough sleeping [2]	Number of people in single homeless hostel (minus voids & overlap with statutory) [3] plus number of people in social services TA [4]	Total homeless people [1+2+3+4]	Total people [5]	Rate (1 in x)
North East	991	45	1,361	2,397	2,636,848	1,100
North West	6,355	313	2,686	9,354	7,219,623	772
Yorks & Hum	2,519	172	2,122	4,813	5,425,741	1,127
East Midlands	3,953	255	2,228	6,436	4,724,437	734
West Midlands	18,063	289	2,545	20,897	5,800,734	278
East	17,334	604	2,453	20,390	6,130,542	301
London	159,680	964	3,721	164,365	8,787,892	53
South East	23,547	956	3,108	27,611	9,026,297	327
South West	8,008	536	2,711	11,259	5,515,953	490
England	242,820	4,134	21,376	268,330	55,268,067	206
Great Britain	280,736	4,447	22,048	307,231	63,785,900	208

Sources: [1] Calculated from DCLG Homelessness statistics Q2 2017, Households that are homeless, owed a legal duty and living in TA, estimated as people (adults and children) [2], DCLG Homelessness statistics: Rough Sleeping, Autumn 2016 (latest available) [3] Single bed spaces in hostels, Homeless Link, 2016. 10% has been taken off the totals to account for voids and the number of single people in TA from the statutory figures are subtracted to ensure a conservative estimate with no double-counting. [4] Results of an FOI by Shelter requesting the number of families owed a duty by Social Services and housed in TA under Children's Act legislation. Less than 50% of areas responded, so this is a very conservative figure. People figure calculated by applying average family size from [1], [5] ONS mid-year population estimates for 2016. Estimates for Scotland and Wales calculated by applying average number of people per household in TA in England to respective figures. Figure has risen by 13,000 people in one year, when compared with an equivalent for Q2 2016.