2019 Rough Sleeping Snapshot Statistics An analysis of 2019 rough sleeping estimates

On the 27th of February 2020, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released the autumn 2019 figures for rough sleeping. These statistics are based on either a count-based estimate, an evidence-based estimate, or an evidence-based estimate including a spotlight count, which provide a snapshot figure of the number of people sleeping rough on a typical night between October and November 20191. The following analysis provides a regional breakdown of the figures, and identifies the local authority areas with the largest changes compared with previous years. The concluding section features a gender-based and nationality-based analysis of the data.

Headline figures A total of 4,266 people were deemed to be sleeping rough in England on a single ‘typical’ night in autumn 2019, representing a 9% decrease from the 2018 figure of 4,677. This is the highest percentage decrease since 2010.

Graph 1 : Rough sleeping in England 2010 – 2019

5000 4751 4677 4266 4500 4134 4000 3569 3500

3000 2744 2309 2414 2500 2181

Number of 2000 1768 rough sleepers 1500

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0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

The number of people sleeping rough in England has increased by 55% in the last 5 years (see Table 1). Since the current methodology for measuring rough sleeping began in 2010, an additional 2,498 people

1 Further information regarding the process for the rough sleeping estimates can be found in the toolkit: https://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site- attachments/Rough%20Sleeping%20Estimates%20Toolkit%202019.pdf Homeless Link

have been deemed to be sleeping rough in England on a single ‘typical’ night. This represents an increase of 141% in the last 9 years.

Table 1: Changes in rough sleeping 2010 – 2019 2010 - 2011 – 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017- 2018- 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019

Percentage +141% +96% +85% +77% +55% +20% +3% -10% -9% change Numerical Change +2498 +2085 +1957 +1852 +1522 +697 +132 -485 -411

Rough sleeping by region In 2019, two regions in England reported an increase in rough sleeping, while seven regions reported a decrease (Graph 2). The South West of England and North East of England are the only two regions with an increase in rough sleeping. There was a significant decrease in the West Midlands (-24%), where a total of 319 people were deemed to be sleeping rough on a single ‘typical’ night.

Graph 2: Regional changes in rough sleeping 2018 – 2019

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-30% South North Yorkshire South North East East West West East & East London West England Midlands Midlands England England Humber England England Change in Rough Sleeping % 7% 2% -2% -4% -5% -11% -15% -18% -24%

London continues to be the region with the highest number of people sleeping rough, with a total of 1,136 people sleeping rough on a single ‘typical’ night (see Graph 3). The North East of England had the lowest number of reported rough sleeping individuals.

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Graph 3: Number of rough sleeping individuals in England, by region, 2018 - 2019

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0 South East South West East North West West East Yorkshire & North East London England England England England Midlands Midlands the Humber England Number of rough sleepers 2018 1283 934 458 484 428 420 358 246 66 2019 1136 900 490 458 349 319 305 242 67

2018 2019

The increase in rough sleeping in England over the past 10 years has varied geographically. London has reported a 174% increase in levels of rough sleeping since 2010 (Graph 4). The North West of England has had the highest increase in levels of rough sleeping since 2010 at 249%.

Graph 4: Rough sleeping by region, 2010-2019

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East England 1000 East Midlands London 800 North East England North West England 600 South East England South West England 400

Number of rough sleepers West Midlands Yorkshire & the Humber 200

0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

London accounts for 27% of the total number of rough sleeping individuals in England (Graph 5). The North East continues to have the lowest proportion of people sleeping rough (2%).

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Graph 5: Regional percentage of total numbers of rough sleepers 2019

6% 11% 7%

7% East England 11% East Midlands

London

North East England

North West England 27% South East England 21% South West England

West Midlands 8% 2% Yorkshire & the Humber

Rough sleeping by Local Authority

• Westminster consistently remains as the Local Authority with the highest number of people sleeping rough (333) (Table 2).

• Camden (-54%), Birmingham (-43%), Manchester (-26%), and Newham (-19%) are in the top 10 for having the highest number of individuals sleeping rough. However, their 2019 figures have shown a reduction in numbers from the previous year.

• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) reported large increases in the number of people sleeping rough (table 2). This Local Authority was not in the top ten in 2018.

• City of London and Enfield are no longer in the top ten (based on the top 10 table from 2018). City of London reported a reduction of 26% and Enfield reported a reduction of 54%.

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Table 2: Top 10 local authorities with highest number of rough sleepers, 2018 – 2019

Local Authority Region 2018 2019 Change from % change on 2018 2019 Westminster London 306 333 27 9% Hillingdon London 70 106 36 51% Bristol, City of South West 82 98 16 20% Manchester North West 123 91 -32 -26% Brighton & Hove South East 64 88 24 38% Bournemouth, South West 45 72 Christchurch and Poole (BCP) 27 60% Camden London 141 65 -76 -54% Newham London 79 64 -15 -19% Birmingham West 91 52 Midlands -39 -43% Islington London 43 51 8 19%

Westminster reported the largest increase in the total number of people sleeping rough (+27) (Graph 6). Other local Authorities also reporting large percentage increase include Sedgemoor (733%), Windsor and Maidenhead (264%) and Southend-on-Sea (191%).

Graph 6: Top 10 local authorities with largest increase in the number of rough sleepers, 2018- 2019 350

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0 Bournemou Windsor th, Westminste Brighton and Southend- Northumber Bristol Hillingdon Christchurc Chichester Sedgemoor r and Hove Maidenhea on-Sea land h, and d Poole 2018 306 82 70 64 45 11 11 16 3 0 2019 333 98 106 88 72 40 32 31 25 15

2018 2019

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Rough sleeping in London

• The number of people sleeping rough has decreased for the first time since 2010 in London (-11%). Outer London Boroughs have continued to show a decrease from last year. This year Inner London Boroughs reported a decrease.

• This year there was an 11% decrease in final figures across London. In 2018 1,283 individuals were estimated to be sleeping rough on a single ‘typical’ night, compared to the final figure of 1,136 this year. However, since 2010, rough sleeping estimates for London show an increase of 174%.

• In 2019, Havering saw the biggest percentage increase in rough sleeping from the previous year (300%). This is followed by Lewisham (220%), and Greenwich (129%).

• Hammersmith & Fulham saw the biggest percentage decrease in rough sleeping, compared to 2018 (83%). This was followed by Enfield (69%), and then Croydon (60%) respectively.

Graph 7: Rough sleepers year on year in Inner and Outer London Boroughs

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0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Inner London Boroughs Outer London boroughs

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Inner London Boroughs

• A total of 689 people were deemed to be sleeping rough in the Inner London Boroughs, representing 16% of the total figure of 4,266.

• Westminster is the local authority with the highest number of rough sleeping individuals (333).

• Lewisham reported the largest increase in number of people sleeping rough at 220%.

Table 3: Inner London boroughs by number of rough sleepers, 2019 Difference from % change from Local Authority 2018 2019 2018 2018 Westminster 306 333 27 9% Camden 141 65 -76 -54% City of London 67 41 -26 86% Lambeth 50 43 -7 -14% Southwark 47 44 -3 -6% Islington 43 51 8 19% Wandsworth 25 28 3 12% Hackney 23 14 -9 -39% Kensington and Chelsea 20 19 -1 -5% Hammersmith and Fulham 12 2 -10 -83% Tower Hamlets 10 17 7 70% Greenwich 7 16 9 129% Lewisham 5 16 11 220% Total (Inner London) 756 689 -67 -9%

Outer London Boroughs

• A total of 447 people were deemed to be sleeping rough in the Outer London Boroughs, representing 10% of the total figure of 4,266.

• Hillingdon is the Local Authority with the highest number of rough sleeping individuals (106).

• Newham (64) and Haringey (33) also have high numbers of people sleeping rough.

• Enfield reported the most significant decrease in the number of rough sleepers (-69%).

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Table 4: Outer London Boroughs by number of rough sleeping individuals, 2019 % change on Local Authority 2018 2019 Change on 2018 2018 Newham 79 64 -15 -19% Enfield 78 24 -54 -69% Hillingdon 70 106 36 51% Ealing 33 20 -13 -39% Haringey 32 33 1 3% Brent 30 25 -5 -17% Redbridge 26 16 -10 -38% Barnet 24 24 0 0% Merton 23 15 -8 -35% Kingston upon Thames 23 20 -3 -13% Waltham Forest 22 18 -4 -18% Hounslow 18 8 -10 -56% Croydon 15 6 -9 -60% Richmond 14 14 0 0% Harrow 13 10 -3 -23% Barking and Dagenham 9 14 5 56% Bromley 6 8 2 33% Bexley 5 9 4 80% Sutton 5 5 0 0% Havering 2 8 6 300% Total (Outer London) 527 447 -80 -15%

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Demographics (gender)

• Of the 4,266 individuals deemed to be sleeping rough in England in 2019, a total of 3,534 were male, 614 were female2 and 118 were gender unknown.

• 14% of total number of rough sleeping individuals were women.

• London and the South East reported the largest number of women sleeping rough (148) (Graph 8).

• Westminster is the local authority which reported the highest number of women sleeping rough (Table 5).

Graph 8: Gender of individuals sleeping rough 2019, by region

North East England

Yorkshire & the Humber

East Midlands

West Midlands

North West England

East England

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South East England

London

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 South East South West East North West West East Yorkshire & North East London England England England England Midlands Midlands the Humber England Men 948 743 406 374 280 256 255 219 53 Women 148 148 68 75 52 55 42 22 4

Men Women

2 Research has however shown that both women will tend to stay in ‘hidden homeless’ situations (e.g. sofa surfing) rather than sleep rough: Crisis (2008) Policy briefing: Homeless Women Briefing, Available at: http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/2945Homeless_women_policy_recommendations.pdf

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Table 5: Top 10 Local Authorities with highest number of female rough sleeping individuals , 2019 Local Authority Region No of female rough sleepers 1. Westminster London 47 2. Hillingdon London 23 3. Bristol, City of South West 13 4. Manchester North West 12

5. Brighton and Hove South East 12 6. Nottingham East Midlands 10 7. Camden London 10 8. Bournemouth, Christchurch South West 10 and Poole (BCP) 9. Islington London 9 10. Cambridge East 9

Demographics (nationality)

• Of the total number of 4,266, 2,735 were UK nationals, 937 of people sleeping rough were EU nationals, 151 were non-EU nationals and 443 nationalities were unknown.

• Compared to 2018, the number of UK nationals is lower than last year (-278 ) and the number of EU, non- UK nationals is also lower than the previous year (-113 )

• London is the region with the highest number of EU, non- UK nationals (18% of the total number of people sleeping rough who are UK nationals).

• The South East of England is the region with the highest number of UK national rough sleeping individuals (25% of the total number of people who have identified as UK nationals).

• The North East of England has the lowest number of rough sleeping individuals in each category (Graph 10).

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Graph 9: Nationality of individuals sleeping rough 2018-2019

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0 UK nationals EU,non-UK nationals Non-EU nationals Nationality Not Known 2018 3013 1048 153 463 2019 2735 937 151 443

2018 2019

Graph 10: Nationality of individuals sleeping rough sleepers nationality demographics 2019, by region 1200

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200 Number of rough sleepers 0 South South North Yorkshire North East West East London East West West & the East England Midlands Midlands England England England Humber England Nationality not known 204 61 40 28 32 19 19 26 14 Non-EU nationals 84 34 9 3 5 3 5 6 2 EU,non-UK nationals 481 128 54 124 17 46 63 22 2 UK nationals 367 677 387 303 295 251 218 188 48

UK nationals EU,non-UK nationals Non-EU nationals Nationality not known

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