Two people died homeless every day last year
Posted 23 Nov 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 23 November 2022
Contact: Shelter Media Team 0344 515 2162 or 07850 901142 (out of hours)
Two people died homeless every day last year
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released new figures today on the estimated number of homeless people who died in England and Wales in 2021. The figures show:
In 2021, an estimated 741 homeless people died in England and Wales - 54% higher than when records began in 2013. This equates to two people dying every day.
The average age at death was 45 for men and 43 for women. This is more than 30 years lower than the average age at death of the general population.
The regions with the highest number of estimated homeless deaths were London (154), the North West (114) and South East (90).
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “A freezing doorway, a bed in an emergency hostel, or a flimsy tent are no substitute for a home. It is utterly awful and unacceptable that two people die every day without any where safe to live – and this number is rising.
“Our frontline services are seeing more people who’ve run out of options, are facing homelessness, and the very real possibility of sleeping rough. This is going to be one of the toughest winters yet as so many people battle rising rents while housing benefit stays frozen.
“The government promised to end rough sleeping, but things are getting worse not better. The government must immediately unfreeze and increase housing benefit to protect people from the ravages of homelessness this winter, and to keep people off the streets for good it has to invest in building good quality, supported social homes.”
ENDS
Notes to the editor:
The number of homeless people who died in England and Wales is the estimated number of homeless people who died whilst rough sleeping or living in emergency accommodation, such as shelters and hostels, at or around the time of death. The data is published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and available here, Deaths of homeless people in England and Wales: 2021,
Deaths of homeless people were identified from the death registration records held by ONS, and a statistical method of modelling was applied to estimate the most likely number of additional registrations not identified as homeless people. The method used provides a robust but conservative estimate, so the real numbers may be higher.
The number of homeless people who died every day last year is calculated by dividing the estimated number of homeless people who died in England and Wales in 2021 (741) by the number of days in the year (365).
The regions with the highest numbers of estimated deaths is from ONS, Deaths of homeless people in England and Wales: 2021,
The average age at death is the mean age at death. Among homeless people, the mean age at death was 45.4 years for males and 43.2 years for females in 2021. This is available at ONS, Deaths of homeless people in England and Wales: 2021 In the general population of England and Wales, the mean age at death was 76.5 years for men and 81.1 years for women. This is 31.1 years higher than the mean age at death for men and 37.9 years higher than the mean age at death for women. The mean age at death for the general population of England and Wales is available at ONS, Deaths of homeless people in England and Wales: 2020, Table 12