At least 271,000 people are homeless in England today
Posted 11 Jan 2023
Shelter warns of bleak start to 2023 for those without a place to call home
New research from Shelter shows at least 271,000 people are recorded as homeless in England, including 123,000 children.
Shelter’s detailed analysis of official homelessness figures and responses to a Freedom of Information request shows that one in 208 people in England are without a home. Of these, 2,400 people are sleeping rough on any given night, 15,000 people are in hostels or supported accommodation and nearly 250,000 are living in temporary accommodation – most of whom are families.
The number of people living in temporary accommodation has risen by an alarming 74% in the last 10 years – something the charity argues is driven by the chronic shortage of social homes, and an over-reliance on grossly expensive and unstable private renting.
More than two-thirds of families (68%) living in temporary accommodation have been there for over a year, showing this type of accommodation is becoming less and less “temporary” as families cannot escape homelessness due to the severe lack of affordable homes. This is a situation made even worse by the three-year freeze on housing benefit, and cost of living crisis.
As well as calculating the total number of homeless people, Shelter has undertaken the largest ever survey of homeless households living in temporary accommodation. The ground-breaking research found that living in temporary accommodation has a hugely detrimental impact on people’s health. It revealed:
Almost two-thirds of people (63%) say that living in temporary accommodation has had a negative impact on their mental health.
Half (51%) say that it has had a negative impact on their physical health.
Two in five people (39%) say that living in temporary accommodation has made it harder to access healthcare appointments.
Shelter is issuing an urgent appeal for public support as it braces for a sharp rise in homelessness in 2023. An average of 1,000 calls per day are made to the charity’s emergency helpline, of which almost eight in ten (78%) callers are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless – a figure which has increased by 8% since last year.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “The new year should be a time of hope, but this isn’t the case for the 271,000 homeless people who are facing a truly bleak 2023. A cold doorway or a grotty hostel room is not a home, but this is reality for too many people today.
“Our frontline advisers are working tirelessly to help people who are desperate to escape homelessness - from the parents doing all they can to provide some shred of a normal family life while stuck in an emergency B&B, to the person terrified of another night sleeping rough.
“With private rents and living costs continuing to soar, thousands of people are not just facing a winter of worry, they are at risk of losing the roof over their head. At Shelter, we are bracing ourselves for a sharp rise in homelessness in 2023. More than ever, we will be relying on the public’s generosity to help us support and campaign for all those fighting for a safe home.”
CASE STUDY: Phil, 65, has a heart condition and is currently living in his van in Camberley. Phil became homeless after the breakdown of his relationship with his partner of 21 years. He had been keeping his belongings in storage but can no longer afford the cost and has now had to get rid of everything.
Phil said: “The cold has been the hardest thing about living in the van. I can’t cook anything so I’m mostly living on crap food. I have a MacDonalds most days but I’m running out of money for things like that now. I've never been so tight in my life. I’ve got good friends so I can go there and get a shower. I could sofa surf but I’m a 65-year-old man and I don’t want to be a burden.
“I’m ashamed of my life sometimes. They say you should take the ups with the downs in life, but it feels like I’ve had more downs lately. I’d just like somewhere where I could close my door, have a bath, sit down and cook myself something to eat.”
Shelter’s new research also reveals the areas across England where homelessness is most acute. London comes out worst, with one in 58 people homeless in the capital. Newham has the highest rate of homelessness with one in 21 people homeless, followed by Westminster (one in 27 people) and Haringey (one in 33 people).
Outside of London, Luton has the highest rate of homelessness with one in 65 people homeless, one in 74 people are homeless in Manchester, followed by Brighton and Hove where one in 78 people are homeless. While one in 80 people are homeless in Birmingham.
While Shelter’s analysis is the most comprehensive overview of recorded homelessness in the country, the true figure is likely to be much higher as some types of homelessness go entirely undocumented, such as sofa surfing.
To donate to Shelter’s Winter Appeal and help to give people fighting homelessness the urgent support, security and hope they need in the tough months ahead, visit shelter.org.uk/donate.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Analysis of recorded homelessness
See ‘Notes and references for tables’ for details of sources and methods.
Table 1: Estimated number of people who are homeless as at a given night in 2022, by type of homelessness, England
| [1] Est. no. of people homeless and living in TA arranged by the council | [2] Est. no. of people homeless and living in TA arranged by them or homeless at home | [3] No. of people sleeping on the streets on a given night | [4] Est. no single homeless people living in hostels | [5] No. people living in accommodation provided by social services | [6] Est. total no. of homeless children | [7] Est. total no. homeless people | [8] Rate of homelessness (1 in X people) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 245,590 | 4,504 | 2,440 | 15,329 | 3,558 | 122,761 | 271,421 | 208 |
Table 2: Estimated number of people who are homeless as at a given night in 2022, by type of homelessness, by region of England
| Region | [1] Est. no. of people homeless and living in TA arranged by the council | [2] Est. no. of people homeless and living in TA arranged by them or homeless at home | [3] No. of people sleeping on the streets on a given night | [6] No. of homeless children in TA | [7] Est. total no. homeless people | [8] Rate of homelessness (1 in X people) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East | 1,100 | 100 | 50 | 360 | 1,250 | 2,118 |
| North West | 14,230 | 189 | 200 | 6,720 | 14,619 | 507 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 4,540 | 369 | 170 | 2,020 | 5,079 | 1,079 |
| East Midlands | 5,570 | 183 | 180 | 2,600 | 5,933 | 822 |
| West Midlands | 18,980 | 1,232 | 190 | 10,540 | 20,402 | 292 |
| East of England | 16,630 | 331 | 240 | 8,280 | 17,201 | 368 |
| London | 148,870 | 1,232 | 640 | 73,810 | 150,742 | 58 |
| South East | 25,940 | 442 | 450 | 12,030 | 26,832 | 346 |
| South West | 9,700 | 402 | 330 | 4,350 | 10,432� | 546 |
Table 3: Top 10 highest local rates of people who are homeless (living in temporary accommodation or sleeping on the streets), London
| Nat. rank | Local authority | Reg. | [1] Est. no. of people homeless and living in TA arranged by the council | [2] Est. no. of people homeless and living in TA arranged by them or homeless at home | [3] No. of people sleeping on the streets on a given night | [6] No. of homeless children in TA | [7] Est. total no. homeless people | [8] Rate of homelessness (1 in X people) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newham | Lon | 16,568 | 0 | 17 | 8,363 | 16,585 | 21 |
| 2 | Westminster | Lon | 7,280 | 0 | 187 | 3,615 | 7,467 | 27 |
| 3 | Haringey | Lon | 7,986 | 0 | 10 | 4,295 | 7,996 | 33 |
| 4 | Hackney | Lon | 7,555 | 0 | 11 | 3,781 | 7,566 | 34 |
| 5 | Redbridge | Lon | 8,096 | 0 | 15 | 4,117 | 8,111 | 38 |
| 6 | Lewisham | Lon | 7,293 | 0 | 7 | 3,885 | 7,300 | 41 |
| 7 | Wandsworth | Lon | 7,183 | 0 | 18 | 3,337 | 7,201 | 45 |
| 8 | Southwark | Lon | 6,729 | 3 | 10 | 2,784 | 6,742 | 46 |
| 9 | Barking and Dagenham | Lon | 4,411 | 0 | 0 | 2,408 | 4,411 | 50 |
| 10 | Ealing | Lon | 6,852 | 35 | 23 | 3,441 | 6,910 | 53 |
Table 3: Top 10 highest local rates of people who are homeless (living in temporary accommodation or sleeping on the streets), excluding London
| Nat. rank | Local authority | Reg. | [1] Est. no. of people homeless and living in TA arranged by the council | [2] Est. no. of people homeless and living in TA arranged by them or homeless at home | [3] No. of people sleeping on the streets on a given night | [6] No. of homeless children in TA | [7] Est. total no. homeless people | [8] Rate of homelessness (1 in X people) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton | East | 3,413 | 23 | 7 | 1,851 | 3,443 | 65 |
| 2 | Manchester | NW | 7,407 | 0 | 43 | 3,649 | 7,450 | 74 |
| 3 | Brighton and Hove | SE | 3,538 | 0 | 37 | 1,360 | 3,575 | 78 |
| 4 | Birmingham | WM | 14,236 | 0 | 31 | 8,312 | 14,267 | 80 |
| 5 | Hastings | SE | 830 | 0 | 23 | 314 | 853 | 107 |
| 6 | Milton Keynes | SE | 2,336 | 0 | 18 | 1,182 | 2,354 | 122 |
| 7 | Basildon | East | 1,517 | 0 | 0 | 780 | 1,517 | 124 |
| 8 | Epsom and Ewell | SE | 624 | 0 | 0 | 319 | 624 | 130 |
| 9 | Slough | SE | 1,102 | 9 | 19 | 521 | 1,130 | 140 |
| 10 | Harlow | East | 615 | 0 | 0 | 328 | 615 | 152 |
Notes and references for tables
[1] This is an estimate of the number of people (adults plus children) who live in households which have been found to be homeless and are living in local authority arranged temporary accommodation under homelessness legislation. It is calculated using the detailed household type information in table TA2 of the Temporary Accommodation tables, from DLUHC’s official statutory homelessness statistics. ‘Other’ household types are assumed to contain an average of two people. Q2 2022 data is used wherever possible, if it is not available, the most recent available quarter in 2021/22 is used. If no data was published in the whole year, the area is excluded. To calculate change over the last ten years at a national level we compared with data from 2012 Q2. DLUHC, Statutory homelessness live tables, Detailed local authority level tables, Table TA1 and TA2
[2] This is an estimate of the number of people (adults plus children) who live in households who have been found to be homeless and are living in temporary accommodation arranged by themselves or ‘homeless at home’, meaning that they are legally homeless because it is not reasonable for them to continue to occupy their home but they have not yet been accommodated by the local authority. The number of people in these households is assumed to match the average seen in the households above and the same conventions on dates are followed as above. DLUHC, Statutory homelessness live tables, Detailed local authority level tables, Table TA1
[3] This is taken from the annual count of rough sleepers on a single night, as at Autumn 2021 (most recent available). These figures are widely considered to be an underestimate of the true scale of street homelessness. DLUHC, Rough sleeping snapshot in England: autumn 2021, Table 1
[4] The estimated number of people living in a hostel or supported accommodation on any given night is calculated using hostel bed space data from the annual Homeless Link report. Homeless Link, Annual review of single homelessness support in England 2021, August 2022. We remove 10% to account for voids and adjust against the published TA figures. Full details of this methodology are published in the accompanying Shelter report.
[5] The number of people (adults and children) living in temporary accommodation arranged by Social Services under section 17 of the Children’s Act is estimated using an FOI sent to all county and unitary authorities in England, asking what this figure was as at 30th June 2022 or the nearest available date. We received full or partial figures from 96 (62%) local authorities. Not all councils hold or are able to access this data, meaning that this figure is an underestimate.
[6] This is the estimated total number of children who are homeless. At the national level it sums up the number of children living in temporary accommodation arranged by the local authority under homelessness legislation and the number of children living in temporary accommodation arranged by Social Services under Section 17 of the Children’s Act. DLUHC, Statutory homelessness live tables, Detailed local authority level table, Table TA1
[7] This is the estimated total number of people who are homeless on a given night. At the national level it sums up all five of the elements above [1-5], at regional and local level just the first three elements [1-3].
[8] This is the rate of people who are homeless in the respected area, calculated by comparing the estimated number of people who are homeless to the total population of the area, using the latest available ONS population statistics. ONS, Population and household estimates, England and Wales: Census 2021, P01
Length of time in TA
The length of time families with children spend in temporary accommodation is calculated using data from March 2022. This is available at DLUHC, Statutory homelessness in England: financial year 2021-22, Additional temporary accommodation breakdowns, 31 March 2022, Table TA4c
Survey of homeless households
Shelter’s landmark research with homeless households comes from a survey of 1,112 homeless households living in temporary accommodation in England. The temporary accommodation was provided under local authorities’ statutory homelessness provisions. The survey was funded by the Trust for London and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The survey was delivered in partnership with six local authorities across London, the South West, Midlands and the North. The survey was conducted online and over the phone between 19 May – 10 August 2022.
The response rate was 11% and the sample is broadly representative of the temporary accommodation population in England, including on the measures of family type, ethnicity, length of time in accommodation, location and type of accommodation.
39% of respondents said they now find it more difficult to access GP or other healthcare appointments compared to where they were living before they were placed in temporary accommodation.
Shelter’s Emergency Helpline Data
Figures relate to data collected by Shelter’s National Helpline in England, between 01/08/2022 to 31/10/2022 and 01/08/2021 to 31/10/2021.
The number of calls per day (1,032) is based on the average number of calls daily during this period. The total number of calls made to the helpline received in this period was 94,954.
The percentage of people ‘homeless or at risk of homelessness’ includes all categories where the person indicated they were homeless or there was some risk of homelessness even if that wasn’t in the next 56 days. The figure for 2022 is 78.26% vs 70.12% in 2021.
About Shelter: Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home and fight the devastating impact the housing emergency has on people and society. Shelter believes that home is everything. Learn more at www.shelter.org.uk.
About Shelter’s Winter Appeal 2022: Join Shelter now in the fight against homelessness and bad housing. Our expert advisers are working with communities across the country, they are taking calls at our emergency helpline, and they are giving online advice to millions through our website. But as more people turn to Shelter, we need the public to help us be there. Give what you can and together we can provide free advice and support to thousands of families facing homelessness this winter. Visit www.shelter.org.uk/donate