Homelessness - the facts
How many homeless people sleep rough?
It can be difficult to work out the number of people sleeping rough for a number of reasons. People bed down at different times, move about, and can be hidden away in derelict buildings. However, each year every local authority in England does estimate or count the number of people sleeping rough in their area.
This information is then submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government and provides an estimate of the number of individuals sleeping out on any one night in England.
The upward trend continues...
Rough Sleeping Statistics for Autumn 2018
produced by the Department of Communities and Local Government
The autumn 2018 total of rough sleeping counts and estimates* in England was 4677.
*Rough sleeping counts and estimates are single night snapshots of the number of people sleeping rough in local authority areas.
- This was down slightly by 74 people, or 2% from the 2017 total, and up 2909 people, or 165%, from the 2010 total of 1768.
- London accounted for 27% of the total number of people sleeping rough in England. This is up 24% of the England total in 2017.
- 14% of rough sleepers were women, 22% were non-UK nationals and 6% were aged 25 years or under.
