New figures
today from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network
(CHAIN) reveal that from April to June 2021,
2589 people
slept rough across London, this was down 14% on the previous quarter,
while 395
people were seen living on the streets for 3
weeks or more.
Responding to the figures Jon Sparkes,
chief executive of Crisis,
said:
“It is very encouraging to see
a fall in the number of people rough sleeping in
London.
“But any street homelessness is of course too
much and we can see the vast majority of people supported off
the streets are going into emergency or temporary
accommodation, with very few getting access to long-term
housing.
“It is also very concerning to see the number of
people living on the streets in London for a sustained period
has risen back to pre-pandemic levels. We desperately need a
national government strategy to end homelessness in England,
which includes both a plan to deliver enough genuinely
affordable housing and a national Housing First programme, to
end the homelessness of people with the most serious support
needs.”
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor
The figures show that
between April-June 2021:
-
2589 people were recorded sleeping rough –
this is a 14% drop on the last quarter and 39% drop on
the same period on the previous year.
-
1177 were seen rough sleeping for the first
time, representing 45% of all people seen sleeping
rough.
-
395 people were living on the streets
(seen rough sleeping for 3 weeks or more or
five or more contacts this
quarter). This is 25% higher than the last
quarter and 50% higher than the same time last
year.
-
82% of people supported off the streets went
into emergency or temporary accommodation, compared to
18% moving into long term accommodation.
