Whoever is named London mayor has a big job ahead of them to eradicate rough sleeping

We know the dangers faced by those sleeping rough in the capital are numerous and Depaul UK will be urging whoever wins the mayoral election to focus on ending rough sleeping. Doing so will require a significant effort given the complex nature of the issue, as well as the extreme and deep-rooted challenges involved.

Decades of underfunding in the housing sector and crippling local authority cuts are putting extreme pressure on an already buckling system – with official statistics released in June showing more than 10,000 people sleeping rough in London over the course of a year.

Top of the agenda for Thursday’s winner should be more mayoral investment in places like Depaul UK’s London Youth Hub, an emergency accommodation service in London, which supports young people to move-on into longer-term accommodation and receive support for mental or physical health, substance misuse, employment, education and training or immigration advice. This enormously in-demand service provides a vital safety net for the most at risk, and a safe place to stay in the short term as we find them somewhere to call home.

The Youth Hub is just one way that homelessness charities like ours pick up the pieces and   plug the gap as best we can. Over the last year, we’ve also provided 670 safe nights in the capital through Nightstop, our emergency accommodation service, a significant increase on the previous year. Nationally, we know that our Nightstop referrals have increased by 34%. 

But we can’t do it alone and nor can the mayor. Ending rough sleeping in London will require close working between the mayor of London, national government, local authorities, and charities like Depaul UK. Addressing the root causes that currently lead so many people to become homeless will require comprehensive strategies spanning multiple sectors, including housing, healthcare, social services, and law enforcement.

The next mayoral administration must, for example, make the case to central government to properly fund local authorities’ homelessness prevention work. And they must call on central government to ensure those granted refugee status are given 56 days’ notice to find accommodation, in line with the Homelessness Reduction Act, and not the 26-days they’re granted now.

No less vital will be investing in truly affordable housing to help the hundreds of thousands of Londoners struggling to find a decent place to live. Depaul UK is buying properties to provide homes for people who have slept rough, using funding already allocated through the Greater London Authority, breaking the vicious cycle of homelessness. The mayor should put pressure on national government to open more homelessness capital and support funding programmes as soon as possible. This will be crucial in London, where the problem of rough sleeping is at its greatest and the availability of housing at its scarcest.

Whichever candidate is elected, they’ll have their work cut out for them. That’s why we will extend a warm invitation to them to visit us, working on the frontline battle against homelessness. Because it’s only firsthand experiences and personal interactions which will give anyone a true understanding of the complex realities of homelessness.

Alexia Murphy is the chief executive of youth homelessness charity Depaul UK.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.