New statistics released this month show the number of people sleeping rough in London has increased by 15%, with the number of people on the street rising from 3017 to 3472.
This figure represents the number of individuals contacted by outreach teams across London in the past year.
Despite the concern over the rise in numbers of rough sleepers the statistics also show that one third of people are only spending a very short time on the street before being helped off the street by outreach workers or finding their own solutions.
The statistics also suggest that people who are returning to the street are people assisted promptly, with 37% of those who are returning to the street only having one instance of contact with outreach teams before coming off again.
80% of rough sleepers in London were found in just five London boroughs: Westminster, the City, Lambeth, Camden and Southwark. However, it is clear from information collected by outreach teams that many of these rough sleepers have come into come into central London from outer London boroughs and from outside London.
Despite the increase in the number of rough sleepers from Central and Eastern Europe, the typical rough sleeper is still a white male born in the UK, aged between 26 and 45 and the main route off the street is via a hostel.
Thames Reach Chief Executive Jeremy Swain said: “We are concerned that the statistics released this month show an increase in the number of people sleeping rough in the capital, though this should be tempered by the knowledge that, as a result of swift interventions by street outreach teams, for many it is a mercifully brief experience of rough sleeping.
"Furthermore, the new London Delivery Board, chaired by the Mayor’s Director of Housing, has produced some imaginative plans for helping people off the street, focusing first on long-term rough sleepers. The Delivery Board brings together senior people from key central government departments, local authorities, regional government, the prison service, NHS and the voluntary sector. This is the first time such a powerful coalition has been formed to end rough sleeping for good and I am very encouraged by its early actions."
The statistics are from Broadways CHAIN (Combined Homelessness and Information Network) data for 2008-09.
