Rough sleeping in London hits record high amid warnings of benefit cuts making things worse
More than 13,000 people were counted as sleeping rough in London over the last year. Mayor Sadiq Khan is among the Labour politicians rebelling against Keir Starmer’s contentious disability benefits cuts
There was a 10% rise in the number of people counted as sleeping rough in London in 2024-25. Image: Olah Renata Adrienn / Unsplash
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The number of people counted as sleeping rough on the streets of London has hit a record high as charities warn Labour’s disability benefits cuts risk driving even more people into homelessness.
Since mayor of London Sadiq Khan first came into power in 2016, numbers have increased by 63% when 8,096 were counted as street homeless in 2015-16.
Khan previously told Big Issue that he expected street homelessness would keep rising in the city until 2026, and he recently set out an action plan to achieve his target of ending rough sleeping in London by 2030.
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A spokesperson for the mayor of London told Big Issue: “No one should have to sleep rough on our streets, so it’s hugely concerning that numbers are rising in the capital and across the country.
“The mayor is determined to end rough sleeping in London for good, and last month launched a bold new Plan of Action to put London on a pathway to achieving this by 2030.”
They added: “The mayor will continue to work closely with the government, London Councils and the homelessness sector to tackle this crisis and build a safer, fairer London for everyone.”
Matthew Falk, director of services at homelessness charity Glass Door said more than 1,600 people had referred for a space at the charity’s night shelter network over the winter – a number that was “far more than we could accommodate”.
“These numbers reflect what we see every day in our services: rough sleeping in London is at record levels and remains a profound injustice,” said Falk.
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“We still have significant concerns about some of the government’s other policies and plans, particularly the plans to restrict eligibility for personal independence payments (PIP) – which will push more people into homelessness.
“If the government is serious about tackling rough sleeping and other forms of homelessness in London, it must be prepared to rethink how it supports society’s most vulnerable, especially people living with disabilities, while also making bold and sustained investments in social housing.”
The Chain statistics are considered the most accurate method of counting rough sleeping across England. Rather than relying on single-night counts and estimates like the official government rough sleeping snapshot, the multi-agency London-only count tracks the numbers of people on the streets over time.
The annual statistics, published on Monday (30 June), found the biggest increase in people on the streets came from people who were counted in the previous year, rather than people who were new to the streets or had been rough sleeping over more than a year ago.
UK nationals accounted for 47% of London’s rough sleeping population, up from 45% in the previous year, while 22% came from other European countries and 30% from the rest of the world.
Around 18% of new rough sleepers had previously been staying in asylum support accommodation before they were on the streets. A total of 841 people were on the streets after the Home Office awarded them the right to remain in the UK while 33 people had received a negative decision.
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Homelessness services worked to help 5,177 people who were seen rough sleeping across the year into any type of accommodation.
Analysis from youth homelessness charity New Horizon Youth Centre found people aged under 25 saw the biggest proportionate increase in homelessness. There was a 23% rise in the number of people aged 18-24 spotted on the streets across the year.
Polly Stephens, head of policy, impact and partnership at New Horizon Youth Centre said: “Once again young people are the fastest growing age group forced to sleep on the streets of the capital. It’s devastating to see these numbers, but not surprising, it matches what we’ve been seeing as London’s only rough sleeping service specifically for under 25s.
“It’s even more upsetting as we know that youth homelessness interventions are one of the best prevention tools we have at our disposal to fight the housing crisis. As numbers escalate and changes to supported housing cut our available referral routes to the bone, we need to see meaningful engagement and massive investment to change the narrative and numbers around homelessness in the UK.”
Prevention is at the heart of Khan’s plan to get from the current record-high numbers to ending rough sleeping by 2030.
The mayor set out his rough sleeping action plan in May. He promised to spend £10 million over three years, alongside £17m in central government funding, to create a new Ending Homeless Hub, refurb up to 500 new empty homes and set up a dedicated rough sleeping prevention phone line.
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“We know the best way to end rough sleeping is to stop it before it starts, which is why Sadiq is putting prevention at the heart of City Hall’s response and working to end the requirement for Londoners to be seen bedded down on the streets before they can access support for the first time ever,” explained a spokesperson for the mayor of London.
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