Reports of rough sleeping rose sharply during lockdown

Reports of people sleeping rough rose sharply during lockdown, despite claims by government that more than 90 per cent of homeless people had been helped off the streets at the height of the pandemic.

The government’s Everyone In scheme – which saw £3.2 million spent on getting people off the streets and into accommodation – was held up as an example of what could be done when homelessness was made a priority. Celebrating its success, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick boasted they had successfully taken 90 per cent of rough sleepers off the streets to protect them from the virus.

However, since March, charities across the country have been warning that the pandemic has also led to a new cohort of people being made homeless as the services and facilities that they normally relied on closed. Many were forced on to the streets when they lost jobs as the economy closed down, with those who did not have access to public funds – such as some foreign nationals – particularly affected.

The Office for Statistics Regulation has recently criticised ministers for a lack of transparency by quoting figures without publishing supporting data.

Now, new figures from the homelessness charity Streetlink show that alerts by members of the public about rough sleepers increased by 36 per cent year on year between April and June 2020, reaching 16,976. Charities have highlighted how notifications were also higher than the previous quarter which is unusual as they tend to rise in winter months.

The rise was particularly pronounced in London, where there was a 76 per cent increase, making up 71 per cent of all alerts.

Matt Harrison, director of Streetlink, said: “We know that more people sleeping rough were calling us because they were concerned about the pandemic situation and weren’t sure where to turn, particularly as the services and facilities that they normally relied on – including homelessness day centres, community centres and public toilets – had closed.”

The data from Steetlink comes as charities warn that the homelessness problem is likely to get worse in the coming months if the government pushes ahead with a plan to lift a ban on evictions on 23 August, which is currently supporting those who have fallen behind on their rent.