Today, the ONS has reported that 778 people
died while homeless in England and Wales during 2019, a rise of
61% since ONS began recording this data.
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This represents an increase of 7.2% from 2018 when
726 died while homeless.
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The number of suicides among people who are
homeless in England and Wales increased by 30.2% in one year,
from 86 estimated deaths in 2018 (11.8% of the total number),
to 112 estimated deaths in 2019 (14.4% of the total
number).
Responding to the figures Jon Sparkes, Crisis
Chief Executive, said: “It is devastating that hundreds
of people died without the dignity of a stable home. Every one of
these human beings will have had different lives, different
characters and different stories. It is heart-breaking that what
unites them is the systematic failure of successive governments.
It is particularly shocking that the number of people to have
taken their own lives while homeless has gone up by almost a
third in just one year.
“To prevent more avoidable deaths, it is vital that
the UK government urgently fulfils its previous commitment and
expands the safeguarding system used to investigate the deaths of
vulnerable adults, to include anyone who has died while
homeless.
“2020 has proven that with political will, change is
possible. Earlier this year, hundreds of lives were saved by
providing emergency accommodation to people rough sleeping to
protect them from coronavirus.
“But the emergency has not ended for people homeless
across the country – even without the threat of coronavirus it is
clear that homelessness in and of itself is a serious threat to
life. People experiencing homelessness still face huge health
inequalities and many barriers to finding a safe and secure home.
We urge the UK government to save lives by ensuring people who
are homeless have prompt and equitable access to the coronavirus
vaccine and by delivering the affordable housing we need to end
homelessness for good.”
