Article UK homelessness: 2005 to 2018 Assessment of the comparability and coherence of existing UK government data sources on homelessness. Contact: Release date: Next release: Lucy Carty 17 September 2019 To be announced
[email protected] +44 (0) 203 741 1789 Table of contents 1. Main points 2. Things you need to know about this release 3. Homelessness housing duties 4. Outcomes 5. Temporary accommodation 6. Demographics 7. Reasons for homelessness 8. Rough sleeping 9. Planned improvements to homelessness and rough sleeping statistics 10. Annex: Data sources Page 1 of 48 1 . Main points Homelessness and housing are devolved policies across the UK and each country produces data and statistics according to their own legislative framework, which vary substantially between countries; differences in reporting categories, category definitions and reporting timeframes are key barriers to comparability across all areas of homelessness statistics. Trends suggest that the number of people reported to be seeking help for homelessness has been reasonably stable in the UK since around 2013. Trends in the number of temporary accommodation placements in the UK are diverging with figures rising in England, variable in Wales, and relatively stable in Scotland and Northern Ireland over the last five years. When applicants are found accommodation, Scotland and Northern Ireland rehome almost all applicants in social housing while England and Wales rehome across the social and private rented sector. Characteristics of homeless households are relatively similar across the UK despite legislative and reporting differences; the largest categories for households seeking help for homelessness are: single- person households without children; those aged between 25 to 49 years; and males.