Over 1,200 people experiencing homelessness died last year

New research from the Museum of Homelessness Dying Homeless Project reveals that 1,286 people experiencing homelessness died in 2021.

The Dying Homeless Project recorded 1,286 deaths across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 2021, an increase of 32 per cent on the numbers reported in the corresponding 2020 study. Of great concern, the latest figures also represent a staggering 80 per cent increase over the number published in 2019.

Significant increases were recorded in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bedford, Southampton and London boroughs like Enfield, Westminster and Tower Hamlets. Only seven of the fatalities were due to Covid-19.

The Museum of Homelessness states that cuts to mental health and addiction services are leaving too many people without the support they need. For 2021, of the cases in which a cause of death was confirmed, 41 per cent were related to drug and alcohol use and 12 per cent died from completing suicide.

The organisation has emphasised that, with the cost of living crisis set to push 1.3 million people into absolute poverty, many more lives will be put at risk.

Jess Turtle, co-founder of MoH, said: “These findings are a hammer blow. It’s heart-breaking to see so many people dying and to feel so helpless in the face of such a serious emergency. Government neglect means things keep getting worse with new provision for mental health, addiction and social housing failing to make up for previous cuts.

“If the government took this situation seriously, it wouldn’t have slashed the budget for discretionary housing payments by over a third last month – making it harder for councils to offer the people the breathing space they need to avoid homelessness.  Reversing this £40 million cut and ending the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates should be immediate priorities so that people have a fighting chance of meeting the spike in private rents.

“Ultimately, the government can’t fix what it doesn’t understand. There needs to be a confidential enquiry into the deaths of homeless people to allow an honest appraisal of what’s happening to the UK’s most vulnerable people. There should also be mandatory fatality reviews for all local authorities – so lessons can be learned from each death.”

The statistics include people sleeping rough as well as those placed in emergency accommodation and other insecure settings.