Rough sleeping in England: Causes and statistics

Rough sleeping refers to people who are homeless and sleeping on the streets or in other places not meant for people to live in such as cars, doorways, parks, bus shelters and abandoned buildings. It is the most visible and dangerous form of homelessness.

What are the causes of homelessness?

Like homelessness more broadly, the causes of rough sleeping include many interrelated structural, individual and interpersonal factors.

Poverty, unemployment, housing shortages and systemic barriers in welfare support are understood to be significant systemic drivers of rough sleeping. These underlying causes can often be exacerbated by personal vulnerabilities like poor health or substance use.

According to the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) database, which contains information about rough sleepers in Greater London, relationship breakdown is the leading cause of rough sleeping in London. 16% of new rough sleepers for whom data was recorded in 2023/24 said that relationship breakdown was the reason they lost their ‘last settled base’. The ending of asylum accommodation also accounts for a growing share of rough sleepers. The annual CHAIN reports for 2022/23 and 2023/24 shows a more than tenfold increase over this timeframe, in the number of new rough sleepers who had left Home Office accommodation prior to sleeping rough.

Which groups are most at risk of rough sleeping?

People from certain groups face an increased risk of experiencing rough sleeping. These groups include people with no recourse to public funds due to their immigration status and people leaving institutions (such as prison, hospital or local authority care).

Some groups, such as women, young people and LGBT+ people, may be underrepresented in official rough sleeping statistics because to keep themselves safe they are more likely to shelter in locations unlikely to be identified by outreach workers. Specific challenges in the current context include rural rough sleeping and barriers faced by people who own pets.

How many people are sleeping rough?

Despite considerable national government efforts to reduce rough sleeping over the last 15 years, the an estimated 4,667 people slept rough on a given night in autumn 2024. This is a 20% increase on the 2023 estimate and a 164% increase on the 2010 estimate. The 2024 figure is slightly below the 2017 peak of 4,750. Rough sleeping is most prevalent in London and southern England, with 28% of the 2024 total recorded in London.

Other key points from the data include:

• Official statistics are recognised as underestimating the true extent of rough sleeping, as they do not account for all forms of homelessness or hidden populations.
• The majority of rough sleepers in 2023 were male (83%) and UK nationals (63%), with significant representation of EU nationals (16%).
• London consistently has the highest rates of rough sleeping, with demographic shifts showing increasing numbers from countries outside Europe and the UK.

The latest financial year report from the CHAIN database, CHAIN Greater London Annual Report 2023/24 reported that a total of 11,993 people were seen rough sleeping in London in 2023/24: the highest since records began. This represented a 19% increase on the previous year. 8,413 people were seen sleeping rough for the first time in 2023/24.

The CHAIN annual report notes that decreases reported in 2021/22 were largely due to additional resources provided under the government’s Everyone In initiative during the covid-19 pandemic. The subsequent increases in 2022/23 and 2023/24 likely reflect the end of these exceptional pandemic-related arrangements.

Efforts to improve data collection, including the introduction of the Rough Sleeping Data Framework in 2023, aim to provide a more comprehensive understanding of trends and outcomes, though challenges in methodology and resource allocation persist.

What measures have been suggested to reduce rough sleeping?

In January 2024, the Conservative government published a report on the circumstances preceding individuals’ first experience of rough sleeping. It highlighted that the risk of rough sleeping is increased by missed opportunities for early intervention, gaps in specialist services and inadequate coordination between local authorities and services. It also said first-time rough sleepers are often unaware of housing support options, and that people can be less likely to engage with statutory services when they have had previous experiences that meant they lost trust in them.

In November 2024, multiple witnesses gave evidence to a one-off oral evidence session conducted by the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Select Committee as part of their short inquiry on rough sleeping. They highlighted that addressing homelessness and rough sleeping requires a shift towards prevention and systemic improvements which would require more social rented housing, higher housing benefits, and more access to specialist and supported housing. They also said that some local authorities were preventing people from accessing statutory support.

The Commons Library briefing Rough sleeping in England: Local and national government action summarises councils' legal duties to people experiencing rough sleeping in England and provides an overview of national government action to tackle rough sleeping since 1990.