Q. How many people are sleeping rough in England?
Q. How does this compare with previous years? Q. What is the Gender / Nationality breakdown? Q. What is the distribution of Rough Sleepers across the country? |
SOURCES
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2017 Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. Rough sleeping statistics England autumn 2017: tables 1, 2a, 2b and 2c. MS Excel Spreadsheet, 161KB Published 25 Jan 2018. Updated 16 Feb 2018. |
Homelessness in England
There has been an increasing trend in the number of Rough Sleepers in England since 2010, with an overall 165% increase. There was a slow down in the trend between 2011 and 2013 but since then, there has been a sharp increase and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. This data has been taken from a Government survey published in January 2018, so the data for 2018 should be available by the end of January 2019. |
Rough Sleepers in England
2010
2017
|
Gender Breakdown
In England, there are significantly more men than women sleeping rough, with 83% male in the survey from 2017. The total number of Rough Sleepers in England is approximately 4,751 from the 2017 survey. The male/female percentage breakdown is very similar for London and outside of London, so hasn’t been shown as a separate charts (82% male for London). |
Regional Breakdown
London and South East England have the highest number of Rough Sleepers, representing about 45% of the overall. The regions with the least number of homeless people are North East England and Yorkshire & The Humber. All regions seem to have increasing numbers of Rough Sleepers, but the most significant are London and South East England. |
Relative the 2010, the highest increase has been in North West England and South East England, with a 330% / 250% increase, respectively. All regions have an increasing trend of Rough Sleepers since 2010, apart from North East England, which has remained at the same level, if not lower. For North West England, the rate of increase is getting worse, with an almost exponential curve. The other regions appear to have a more linear trend. |
Nationality Breakdown
Overall, the majority of Rough Sleepers in England are British, with 72% confirmed as UK Nationals in the most recent survey year (2017). Of the 4,751 identified Rough Sleepers in England, 16% were EU Nationals, 4% from outside the EU, and 8% unknown – suggesting that some people did not wish to disclose their non-UK nationality. |
Outside of London, the percentage breakdown shows there is an even higher percentage of Rough Sleepers that are British, with 81% confirmed as UK Nationals in the last survey. There were 3,614 Rough Sleepers identified outside of London, in England. 12% were EU nationals, 2% were from outside the EU, and 5% did not disclose their nationality (approx. 180). |
For London, the percentage breakdown shifts quite significantly with only 40% of Rough Sleepers identifying as British. While 29% were EU nationals, 11% were from outside the EU, and 20% did not disclose their nationality, suggesting they are likely to be from outside the UK (approx. 227). There were 1,137 Rough Sleepers identified in London. |