Today, new data from the ONS has been
released highlighting that 741 people died while homeless in
England and Wales during 2021.
This follows on from the National
Records of Scotland (NRS) who yesterday released their data for
2021 reporting that 250 people died while homeless in
Scotland.
Additional analysis of the ONS data
for England and Wales showed that:
-
The number of people who died while
homeless in 2021 is a 7.7% increase on the previous
year.
-
Of the
741 figure, 701 people were in England and 40 in
Wales.
-
The average age of death for men
experiencing homelessness was just 45.4 years and for women it
was 43.2, decades shorter than the average for people not
experiencing homelessness.
These sobering figures come as Crisis
prepares for an incredibly busy winter. From late December
onwards, the charity will be providing hotel accommodation in London to hundreds of
people who would otherwise be sleeping rough over Christmas.
Crisis will also be supporting thousands in insecure
accommodation across Britain, providing food,
companionship and support with
housing, benefits and training.
The charity is warning that demand for
its services is increasing and shows no sign of abating as rents
have risen at their fastest rate for 16 years across England,
while in Wales less than 1% of private rented homes are
affordable to people on housing benefit. This, the charity says,
will see more and more households pushed into poverty as they
struggle to keep up with the rising cost of living. Crisis is
also urging the public to stand with people experiencing
homelessness this winter via its urgent appeal so that thousands
of people can get the vital support they need to leave
homelessness behind. To donate visit: crisis.org.uk/christmasgift
Responding to the figures Matt Downie,
Crisis Chief Executive, said: “Behind each of these statistics is a human being; an
individual who tragically spent their last moments homeless. We
know that being homeless often means feeling like you have
nowhere to go and no one to turn to. It’s difficult to bear, but
that will have been the experience of some of the real people
behind these figures.
“There is no excuse for this shameless
suffering. For years we have been calling on the UK Government to
expand the safeguarding system
used to investigate the deaths of vulnerable
adults to include everyone who has died while street homeless.
This must be acted upon so we can learn lessons from these tragic
deaths.
“Our services are gearing up for an
incredibly challenging winter, with thousands facing the
brutality of homelessness as the rising cost of living pushes
them to breaking point. These dire economic times must not lead
to more people falling through the cracks and dying needlessly on
our streets.
“We can stop this before it’s too
late. We desperately need more social homes and for the UK
Government to invest in housing benefit so it covers the true
cost of rents. Only decisive action will ensure everyone has a
safe place to call home and prevent more loss of life in the
future.”
-Ends-
Notes to Editor
Deaths of homeless people in
England and Wales: 2021 registrations
