Sadiq Khan’s vow to "eliminate" rough sleeping by 2030 has moved further out of reach.
Latest figures published by City Hall on Wednesday showed that 4,223 people were seen sleeping rough in London between April and June, up 29 per cent on the same period last year.
The total included 1,931 new rough sleepers – those who were new to the streets. This figure was up 20 on the same period a year ago.
Mr Khan pledged to eradicate rough sleeping as part of his 2024 mayoral manifesto. At the time, there had been a 71 per cent increase in the number of people living on the streets since he became mayor in 2016.
Immediately before Mr Khan took office, the official count of the capital’s rough sleepers was 2,561.
The CHAIN (Combined Homelessness and Information Network) quarterly report revealed the number of people sleeping rough for the first time had increased from 1,614 to 1,931.
Of the new rough sleepers, 1,419 (73 per cent) spent just one night sleeping rough, 440 (23 per cent) slept rough for more than one night but did not go on to live on the streets and 72 (four per cent) were deemed to be living on the streets.
A total of 624 people were deemed to be living on the streets. This is 52 per cent higher than the same period last year, and 22 per cent higher than the January to March 2024 period.
About 45 per cent of rough sleepers were British, 25 per cent European – with Romanians the biggest single group, at 8.7 per cent of the street population. About 15 per cent were African. Some 84 per cent of rough sleepers were men.
Westminster had 752 rough sleepers – up 213 on a year ago. Of these, welfare officers were Able to help 250 people to achieve “no second nigh out” on the streets.
A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: “No one should have to sleep rough on our country’s streets, so it’s shameful that numbers are rising in London and across the country.
“The Mayor is committed to doing everything in his power to help as many people off the streets and into more secure accommodation, which is why he’s quadrupled City Hall’s rough sleeping budget since 2016, supporting over 16,000 people off the streets to-date.
“Sadiq will work hand-in-hand with the new Government to turbocharge housebuilding across the capital and increase the delivery of services and support to end rough sleeping in the capital by 2030 – helping to build a better, fairer London for all.”
John Glenton, executive director at Riverside, one of the largest providers of accommodation for people affected by homelessness, said the quarterly total was the biggest for the April to June period outside of the pandemic.
He said: “The increase in people sleeping rough is accelerating rather than slowing.
“We’re very heartened by Sadiq Khan’s pledge to end rough sleeping in the capital by 2030 – a commitment which was made on the proviso of working in partnership with a Labour government.
“Now we have a new government there are reasons to be optimistic about this promise – the first Blair administration met their target to reduce rough sleeping by two-thirds in four years.
“However, reducing the number of people sleeping rough in London will be an even tougher challenge this time. This time more people are sleeping rough, we have an acute shortage of affordable housing, the public finances have worsened and the resources currently available to the sector have depleted significantly over the past 14 years."
