The Current Homeless Crisis in England

In December 2019, the housing and homelessness charity Shelter composed a report of local authorities’ estimated homeless levels. The numbers were stark – on any given night in 2019, the report estimated that there were approximately 259,372 individuals homeless in England. This figure is made up of 4,677 rough sleepers and 254,695 living in temporary accommodation.

While the homelessness crisis has been growing over a number of years, it was brought sharply into the spotlight by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for local authorities to immediately house people sleeping on the streets as part of the call for ‘Everyone in’.

MHCLG, in their quarterly statistics release for statutory homelessness assessments April to June (Q2) 2020, states that there were 44,890 single adults of which many would not have previously met the criteria for assistance.

Now more than ever, a sustainable solution is needed to help people without a home.