New figures show rough sleeping in London has doubled in just over a decade — concerning to see entrenched rough sleeping rise by 27% year-on-year.
John Glenton, Executive Director of Care and Support at Riverside — one of the largest providers of accommodation for people affected by homelessness in England — said: “It is not acceptable that the number of people sleeping rough in London has more than doubled in 12 years*.
“Unfortunately, it is highly likely that these figures will increase again as we have just seen the largest ever number of people sleeping rough in London during the winter months.
“It is particularly concerning to see the sharp increase in entrenched rough sleeping in London, with the number of people sleeping rough across a minimum of two consecutive years rising by more than a quarter (27%).
“Having run the Street Buddies programme in London we know how challenging it is to bring people sleeping rough in off the streets when they become entrenched.
“The Mayor’s new rough sleeping plan comes at a crucial time and we believe the new approach will help to reduce the number of people sleeping rough in time.
“However, to significantly and sustainably cut the number of people sleeping rough in London we believe we will need larger numbers of one-bed accommodation and a significant increase in the amount of social housing in London so people can access housing which is financially sustainable for them in the long-term.”
*The number of people sleeping rough in London has more than doubled from 6,508 in 2013/14 to 13,231 in 2024/25 – an increase of 103%.
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