Research and analysis

Support for people sleeping rough in England, March 2022

Published 3 September 2022

Applies to England

1. Main findings

• This information gives a fuller picture of the dynamic and seasonal nature of rough sleeping, and illustrates the work done by local authorities to provide a pathway off the streets and into long-term accommodation. This is an important step towards driving better outcomes through increased data and transparency.

• The number of people sleeping rough tends to be higher in the summer months, when it is warmer and lower in the winter months. This peak in rough sleeping also coincides with the fewest number of people newly provided with emergency and short-term accommodation. Some people sleeping rough may have abandoned or refused accommodation which illustrates the complex journeys involved to provide a pathway off the streets.

• Since the last update up to December 2021, the number of people sleeping rough fell further to January then increased. In January 2022, there were 1,405 people sleeping rough on a single night – down 56 people or 4% since the same period last year. In February 2022 there were 1,473 people sleeping rough on a single night – up 115 people or 8% since February 2021.

• The latest data shows, there were 1,806 people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in March 2022 – up 286 people or 19% on the same period last year, but down 1,123 people or 38% on the monthly peak in September 2020. Both are significantly lower than the autumn 2017 peak as measured by the annual rough sleeping single night snapshot, when there were 4,750 people sleeping rough on a single night.  

• The increase in the number of people sleeping rough on a single night is disproportionately driven by a small number of local areas – over half of the change between March 2021 to March 2022 is driven by 5 local authorities out of 309 in total, including Westminster, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Camden, Leeds and Birmingham. Rough sleeping on a single night fell or stayed the same in over half of all local authorities (55%) over the same period.

• There were 4,602 people estimated to be sleeping rough over the course of March 2022 – up 16% on the same period last year, but down 17% on the peak in November last year. This is 2.5 times larger than the number of people seen sleeping rough on a single night, illustrating that the flow of people onto and off the street over the course of a month is significantly higher than those seen on any given night due to the dynamic nature of rough sleeping.

• There were 5,073 people estimated to be in emergency and short-term accommodation in March 2022 – down 53% on the same period last year and down 67% from the peak in June 2020.

• There were 15,531 people estimated to have been moved into settled accommodation or supported housing pathway in 2021 – on average there were an estimated 1,294 people being moved on into long term accommodation each month in 2021.

1.1 Details about the management information and how it compares to other sources

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has been collecting monthly management information from all local authorities in England about the support for people sleeping rough and those at risk of sleeping rough, since May 2020, alongside the annual rough sleeping snapshot statistics. On average, 95% of areas provide a response each month and for those areas that do not provide data, imputed figures based on previous latest management information has been used.

This publication brings together and summarises previously published management information alongside further information about new people sleeping rough, the total number of people sleeping rough over the course of the month, information about the offer of support for people sleeping rough, information about prison leavers and support under legal homelessness duties.

This monthly management information provided by local authorities includes a more frequent although less robust estimate of people sleeping rough on a single night, compared to the official rough sleeping snapshot statistics, which are collated by outreach workers, local charities and community groups and are independently verified by Homeless Link.

The management information also provides an estimate of the number of people sleeping rough over the course of the month in each local authority to better understand the flow of people sleeping rough. This figure is based on casework done by outreach teams and other service providers.

For further information, see Technical notes

2. Rough sleeping

2.1 Single night snapshot

Since the last update up to December 2021, the number of people sleeping rough on a single night fell further in January 2022 then increased in February and March 2022. In January 2022, there were 1,405 people sleeping rough on a single night – down 56 people or 4% since the same period last year. In February there were 1,473 people sleeping rough on a single night – up 115 people or 8% since February 2021.

The latest data shows, the number of people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in March 2022 was 1,806. This has increased by 286 people or 19% since the since the same period last year and increased by 28 people or 2% since December 2021. However, it is down 1,123 people or 38% from its peak in September 2020, when there were 2,929 people sleeping rough on a single night. This may be due to the easing of Covid-related restrictions from March 2021. On average over the last year, there were around 1,900 people sleeping rough on a single night each month.

The increase in the number of people sleeping rough on a single night between March 2021 and March 2022 is disproportionately driven by a small number of local areas – over half of the change (53%) is driven by 5 local authorities (2% of total local authorities in England), including Westminster (up 72 people) Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (up 22 people), Camden (up 22 people), Leeds (up 21 people), and Birmingham (up 16 people). Rough sleeping on a single night fell or stayed the same in over half of all local authorities (55%) in England between March 2021 and March 2022.

Rough sleeping on a single night remains lower than the autumn 2017 peak as measured by the annual rough sleeping single night snapshot, when there were 4,750 people sleeping rough on a single night.

The number of people sleeping rough tends to be higher in the summer months, when it is warmer and lower in the winter months, when there are more temporary night shelters to ensure people do not sleep rough on the streets in very cold weather. This peak in rough sleeping also coincides with the fewest number of new people being provided with emergency and short-term accommodation, which also tends to be higher in winter and lower in summer.

30% of people sleeping rough on a single night in March 2022 were new and had not been seen sleeping rough before. This is similar to the same period last year when 29% were new.

5% of people sleeping rough on a single night in March 2022 were under 25 years old. This is similar to previous months.

Figure 1: People sleeping rough on a single night, June 2020 to March 2022

2.2 Offers of emergency and short-term accommodation for people sleeping rough

The management information also asks local authorities to provide information about the offers of emergency and short-term accommodation for those people identified as sleeping rough as part of the single night snapshot. This includes whether those people identified as sleeping rough have either not had an offer of accommodation, refused an offer of accommodation, been evicted, or abandoned their accommodation or have a tenancy of supported housing placement available to them.

Of the people sleeping rough on a single night in March 2022, 39% had refused an offer of emergency and short-term accommodation compared to 54% last year, 21% had abandoned or been evicted from accommodation compared to 20% last year, 33% had not had an offer of accommodation, compared to 23% last year and 10% had a housing placement available but were sleeping rough compared to 7% last year.

The changes in the proportion of people refusing offers of accommodation and not having offers of accommodation, may be due to the easing of restrictions from March 2021 and corresponding easing of the emergency response.

Figure 2: Offers of emergency and short-term accommodation for people sleeping rough, March 2021 and March 2022

2.3 Rough sleeping over the course of the month

The management information also asks local authorities to provide an estimate of the number of people who have slept rough over the course of the month. This figure should include all people who have slept rough at any point in the month, as opposed to the single night snapshot estimate which provides an estimate of the number of people sleeping rough on one single night. This figure is based on work done by outreach teams and other service providers and is used to better understand the flow of people sleeping rough each month.

The total number of people estimated to be sleeping rough over the course of March 2022 was 4,602 people. This has increased by 622 people or 16% since the same period last year, which may be due to the easing of restrictions from March 2021, and has increased by 41 people or 1% since December 2021, but is down 17% from the peak in November last year.

On average over the last year, there were over 4,600 people sleeping rough over the month which is 2.4 times larger than the number of people seen sleeping rough on a single night.

40% of people sleeping rough over the course of March 2022 were new and had not been seen sleeping rough before, similar to the same period last year when it was 41%. 37% of people sleeping rough in December 2021 were new.

Figure 3: Total number of people sleeping rough over the course of each month, October 2020 to March 2022

Rough sleeping is clustered in a small number of large towns or cities. On average over the last year, less than 20 areas had more than 50 people sleeping rough each month. See Annex A which shows maps of rough sleeping, emergency and short-term accommodation and move-on.

3. Emergency and short-term accommodation

3.1 People in emergency and short-term accommodation

The management information also asks local authorities to provide information about the numbers of people in emergency and short-term accommodation which is accommodation for people sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough through ‘Everyone In’ which would not otherwise have been available to them.

The number of people estimated to be in emergency and short-term accommodation in March 2022 was 5,073. This has decreased by 5,762 people or 53% since the same period last year. However, it has increased by 181 people or 4% since December 2021 – and is down 67% since its peak in June 2020.

Since the easing of lockdown restrictions from March 2021, the number of people in emergency and short-term accommodation has decreased but has decreased at a faster rate in areas outside of London. The number of people in emergency and short-term accommodation decreased by 44% in London compared to 58% in the rest of England.

Emergency and short-term accommodation is also clustered in a small number of large towns and cities, including in coastal or seaside areas - see Annex A. In March 2022, 27 areas including the Greater London Authority, which provides accommodation across London had more than 50 people in emergency and short-term accommodation, and these areas, include nearly half (49%) of all the people in emergency and short-term accommodation.

Figure 4: People in emergency and short-term accommodation, June 2020 to March 2022

3.2 Characteristics of people in emergency and short-term accommodation

The management information also asks local authorities to provide some basic background information about the characteristics of those being provided emergency and short-term accommodation, including whether they were previously sleeping rough, in prison, were accommodated via a homelessness duty and whether they were under the age of 25 years old.

5% of people in emergency and short-term accommodation in March 2022 had previously been discharged from prison, compared with 7% in March 2021 and 6% in December 2021.

6% of people in emergency and short-term accommodation in March 2022 were aged under 25, compared with 10% in March 2021 and 6% in December 2021. This is similar to the proportion of people sleeping rough who are under 25 years old.

73% of people had been sleeping rough prior to entering emergency and short-term accommodation in March 2022, compared with 59% in March 2021 and 68% in December 2021. The higher proportion of people sleeping rough prior to entering emergency and short-term accommodation in March 2022 compared to same period last year, may reflect the easing of restrictions and the changing response as the risk to life from COVID reduced.

67% of people in emergency and short-term accommodation in March 2022 had a Housing Act 1996 homelessness application taken and a S189B relief duty accepted, which is the same proportion as in March 2021, compared with 64% in December 2021.

Figure 5: Characteristics of people in emergency and short-term accommodation, March 2021 and March 2022

3.3 Nationality of people in emergency accommodation

The majority of people in emergency and short-term accommodation are from the UK. 3,352 or 66% of people in emergency and short-term accommodation in England, as at end March 2022 were from the UK. 1,015 people (20%) were EEA nationals, 688 people (14%) were non-EEA nationals and 18 people (<1%) had a nationality that was unknown. The nationality breakdown is similar to the annual rough sleeping snapshot, although the percentage of non-EEA nationals in emergency and short-term accommodation is higher, but there is a higher percentage of people with unknown nationality in the annual rough sleeping snapshot which may be non-UK.

Since the easing of lockdown restrictions from March 2021, the number of people in emergency and short-term accommodation who are from the UK has decreased at a faster rate compared to those who are non-UK nationals. The number of people in emergency and short-term accommodation from the UK decreased by 4,070 people or 55% over the last year compared to 1,511 people or 47% for people from outside of UK.

In March 2021 69% of people in emergency and short-term accommodation in England were from the UK, 17% were EEA nationals, 12% were non-EEA nationals and 2% had an unknown nationality and in December 2021 67% were from the UK, 18% were EEA nationals, 14% were non-EEA nationals and <1% had an unknown nationality.

Figure 6: People in emergency and short-term accommodation, by nationality, October 2020 to March 2022

3.4 Flows in and out of emergency accommodation

The management information also asks local authorities to provide information about flows into and out of emergency and short-term accommodation, including information about the overall number of people who are newly accommodated each month as well as information about those people who have left accommodation without move-on arrangements.

There were 1,095 people new into emergency accommodation in March 2022. This has decreased by 1,183 people or 52% since the same period last year, and has decreased by 263 people or 19% since December 2021. New people into emergency and short-term accommodation has decreased since restrictions were eased from March 2021 onwards, but increased again in October to January which may be partly due to colder weather but also due to the Protect and Vaccinate Scheme which was launched in December 2021, in response to the threat from the Omicron Covid-19 variant. The Protect and Vaccinate scheme provided funding for emergency accommodation to get people off the streets and help increase vaccine uptake among people who are homeless and sleeping rough.

678 people left emergency accommodation without a move-on destination in March 2022. This has decreased by 345 people or 34% since the same period last year, but has increased by 336 people or 98% since December 2021.

Figure 7: Flows into and out of emergency accommodation, October 2020 – March 2022

4. Move-on accommodation and reconnections

In 2021, an estimated 15,531 people have been moved into settled accommodation or supported housing pathway – with 1,294 people being moved on into accommodation each month on average. In 2022, an estimated 2,926 people have been moved into settled accommodation or supported housing pathway between January to March – with 975 people being moved-on into accommodation each month on average.

The number of people estimated to have moved into settled accommodation or supported housing pathway in March this year is 40% lower than the same period last year. However, this slowing rate of move on coincides with a general pattern of lower numbers of people in emergency accommodation compared to the start of the pandemic. Since the pandemic began, 43,166 people have been moved into settled accommodation or supported housing pathway.

The number of people being provided move-on accommodation may be influenced by a range of factors including the numbers in emergency and short-term accommodation, the number sleeping rough, the needs of the people who require accommodation and housing affordability pressures.

The numbers of people being provided move-on accommodation is less clustered in a small number of areas than rough sleeping and emergency and short-term accommodation, and is highest in the North West which may be due to availability of accommodation and housing affordability pressures compared to other areas - see Annex A.

Figure 8: Number of people moved into settled accommodation or supported housing pathway, each month, October 2020 - March 2022

Reconnections are a type of move-on arrangement where people who are sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough return to their home area either in another local authority or internationally.

In 2021, an estimated 993 people were reconnected, of which 306 people (31%) were reconnected internationally and 687 people (69%) were reconnected to another local authority – on average there were an estimated 83 people reconnected each month in 2021. In 2022, an estimated 247 people have been reconnected between January to March, of which 84 (34%) were reconnected internationally and 163 (66%) were reconnected with another local authority.

Reconnections are also clustered in a small number of large towns or cities. In 2021, 24 areas had made 10 or more reconnections in total over the year, and these areas make up more than 50% of the total reconnections across the year.

Figure 9: Number of reconnections, October 2020 to March 2021

5. Technical notes

5.1 Definitions

People sleeping rough

People sleeping rough are defined as about to bed down (sitting on/in or standing next to their bedding) or actually bedded down in the open air (such as on the street, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments). People in buildings or other places not designed to for habitation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations or “bashes” which are makeshift shelters often comprised of cardboard boxes). The definition does not include:

• People in hostels or shelters
• People in campsites or other sites used for recreational purposes or organised protest
• Squatters
• Travellers

This is the same definition as is used for the annual rough sleeping snapshot statistics.

Emergency and short-term accommodation

Emergency and short-term accommodation includes hotels, B&Bs, local authority managed temporary accommodation, student halls and other accommodation that has been used to accommodate people sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough through ‘Everyone In’ and which would not otherwise have been available to them. It does not include placements in hostels or supported housing services that are usually available to people sleeping rough, except where such services have been used on an exceptional basis for people sleeping rough who are ineligible for homelessness support.

Reconnections

Reconnections are a type of move-on arrangement where people who are sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough return to their home area either in another local authority or internationally.

Settled accommodation

Settled accommodation is a tenancy of at least 6 months either in the private sector or a tenancy with a housing association or the council.

Supported housing pathway

Supported housing is any housing scheme where housing, support and sometimes care services are provided in one package depending on the individual needs of the person. Some of these housing schemes are long-term and are designed for people who will need ongoing support to be able to live independently. Others are short-term, designed to help people develop the emotional and practical skills needed to move into more mainstream housing. Collectively, and where move-on arrangements are included as part of this, these forms of housing can make up a supported housing pathway and people may move between these types of housing and mainstream housing as their needs change

5.2 Data quality and limitations

This management information provides more timely and more detailed data on rough sleeping and the support for rough sleepers compared to the annual rough sleeping snapshot. The management information is primarily designed to help monitor local authority performance and accountability towards ending rough sleeping.

The information is collected via a regular survey to local authorities, which began in May 2020. All local authorities are required to complete the survey, which includes questions about delivery, rough sleeping, emergency and short-term accommodation, long term or repeat rough sleepers and move on accommodation and reconnections.

Local authorities submit their management information via DLUHC’s DELTA online data collection system. The DELTA online data collection system includes in-built rules and validation checks to ensure the data provided is complete and accurate.

As well as the in-built validations via DELTA, DLUHC analysts also carry out a series of quality assurance checks including checks for outliers and comparing the information with other relevant data sources.

The data is not independently verified. It has been provided by local authorities.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) which is the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority recently completed a review of the very first Support for people sleeping rough publication against the Code of Practice for Statistics. This review considered the value, quality and trustworthiness of these statistics in relation to the Code.

The review recommendation will be taken forward in future releases as this becomes a regular quarterly publication.

To assess the quality of new management information, we compared the monthly rough sleeping management information estimates with the 2021 Rough sleeping snapshot data. These two different sources were correlated which provides confidence that local authorities are consistent when estimating the number of people sleeping rough on a single night.

For the monthly rough sleeping snapshot estimate, local authorities are advised to use a snapshot approach which will provide the most robust figure. This should be one of the three approaches that are used for the official rough sleeping snapshot, which may include a count-based estimate, an evidence-based estimate meeting or an evidence-based estimate meeting including a spotlight count. If no snapshot has been conducted within the month, local authorities should gather their intelligence, data sources and records to establish what a single night figure would be and submit this as their estimate.

Figure 10: Quality Assurance Process flowchart

An outline of the production process and quality assurance carried out prior to the publication of the Support for people sleeping rough in England management information.

Accessible version of flowchart

1. Start: DLUHC provide guidance to LAs on questions to be included in monthly rough sleeping management survey (end of each month).

2. Rough sleeping monthly management information survey is issued to all LAs in England and GLA via DELTA online data collection system (end of each month).

3. LA submits data to DLUHC using DELTA online data collection system (second week of each month).

4. In-built validation rules and checks ensure the data provided is complete and accurate before submission.

• DLUHC conducts further validation, sense checks and quality assurance prior to publication
• Discuss discrepancies with rough sleeping advisers and LAs if needed prior to publication

5. End: DLUHC publishes management information (approximately 12 weeks after collection).

5.3 Related statistics

Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN)

The Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) is a multi-agency database recording information about people seen rough sleeping by outreach teams in London. CHAIN is managed by Homeless Link, a London-based homeless charity and is used by organisations working with people sleeping rough in London. Information is recorded onto the CHAIN database by people who work directly with people sleeping rough in London (e.g. workers in outreach teams, day centres, hostels and resettlement teams). CHAIN does not cover ‘hidden homeless’ groups, such as those who are squatting or staying in inaccessible locations to outreach workers.

Hostels and support services

Homeless Link publishes an Annual review of single homelessness support, which includes information about the number of hostels and shelters in England and available bed spaces, as well as the support and services available to single people who become homeless in England.

DLUHC related statistics

The rough sleeping statistics do not provide a definitive number of people or households affected by homelessness in England. The term ‘homelessness’ is much broader than people sleeping rough. It is difficult to provide an accurate estimate of all homelessness across England. Data used to compile any estimate is collated from different datasets, which sample different subsets of the population over different time frames. Any estimate of homelessness in England will collate datasets that are not discrete from one another, which means some individuals may have been included more than once in the estimated total.

Annual rough sleeping snapshot

The DLUHCs official annual rough sleeping snapshot statistics, provide a way of estimating the number of people sleeping rough across England on a single night in autumn and assess change over time. This is the most robust measure of rough sleeping given they are independently verified and are published in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. These statistics provide information about the estimated number of people sleeping rough on a single night between 1 October and 30 November 2021 and some basic demographic details (i.e. age, gender, nationality).

Rough sleeping questionnaire

In December 2020, DLUHC published the initial report on the rough sleeping questionnaire (RSQ), which represents one of the largest survey data collections on people who sleep rough ever attempted in the UK. The report provides insights into the experiences of people who have slept rough, including their support needs and vulnerabilities, experiences of homelessness and use of public services, as well as an estimate of the fiscal cost associated with someone who sleeps rough.

Statutory homelessness

DLUHC also collect and publish quarterly statistics on the broad characteristics and circumstances of households owed a statutory homelessness duty. This includes households who approach the council for help with housing who are sleeping rough. The statutory homelessness statistics includes some but not all of the people provided with accommodation in response to COVID-19 through the ‘Everyone In’ support. Not all individuals assisted through ‘Everyone In’ would have been owed a homelessness duty. Any individual not owed a homelessness duty would not be part of the local authority case level data submission to DLUHC and therefore would not be included in the Statutory Homelessness statistics. People sleeping rough will only be recorded in these statistics if they have made an application that has been accepted by the local authority. There are three main groups that are not included in the statutory homelessness statistics that would be included in the management information. These include:

• People not eligible for statutory homelessness assistance because they are ‘persons from abroad’ specifically excluded by the legislation.

• People sleeping rough who did not engage with the assessment process required to take a homelessness application, or who were not owed a relief duty by the local authority.

• People who were provided accommodation via upper tier local authorities, such as Greater London Authority (GLA) who do not have statutory homelessness duties, and do not provide data via the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (HCLIC) data system.

Hidden homelessness

DLUHC produce other statistical releases that can help build up the wider homelessness picture. For example, the English Housing Survey publishes data on the number of people sofa surfing and concealed households in England, which are additional adults in a household who wanted to rent or buy but could not afford to do so. In addition, the CORE social housing lettings collection publishes data on those moving from homelessness into local authority/ private registered providers accommodation.

Expenditure on homelessness

DLUHC publish statistics on local authority revenue expenditure and financing in England. The RO4 return within the Revenue Outturn suite relates to housing services and includes information on local authorities’ expenditure on homelessness activities

5.4 Revisions policy

This policy has been developed in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for statistics and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities revisions policy. There are two types of revisions that the policy covers:

Non-scheduled revisions

Where a substantial error has occurred as a result of the compilation, imputation or dissemination process the statistical release, live tables and other accompanying releases will be updated with a correction notice as soon as is practical.

If a local authority notifies DLUHC of an error in the information they have submitted after publication of the release, a decision on whether to revise will be made based upon the impact of any change and the effect it has on the interpretation of the data.

Scheduled revisions

There are no scheduled revisions for this release.

5.5 User engagement

Users are encouraged to provide feedback on how these statistics are used and how well they meet user needs. Comments on any issues relating to this release are welcomed and encouraged. Please contact roughsleepingstatistics@levellingup.gov.uk if you have any feedback or comments.

See the department’s engagement strategy to meet the needs of statistics users.

6. Enquiries

Media

Telephone: 0303 444 1209
Email: newsdesk@levellingup.gov.uk

Statistical enquiries

Telephone: 0303 444 2623
Email: roughsleepingstatistics@levellingup.gov.uk

Responsible analysts

Jon White, Sally Frost and Anthony O’Dowd

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the department’s website.

7. Annex A: Maps

Figure A1: Map of number of people sleeping rough over the month, as at March 31st 2022

Figure A2: Map of number of people in emergency and short-term accommodation, as at March 31st 2022

Figure A3: Map of number of people who moved into settled accommodation or supported housing pathway, in March 2022