3,400 People Slept On London's Streets This Summer Despite Drive To 'End Homelessness'

Two thousand people slept rough for the first time in London this summer, new figures reveal, as homelessness charities warn the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic could see more left without a roof over their heads.

They were among 3,444 rough sleepers in the capital between July and September.

At the start of the crisis, the government asked local authorities to house all rough sleepers and those in hostels and night shelters by early April as part of the Everyone In campaign.

The drive to get people off the streets at the start of the coronavirus pandemic did see reduced levels of rough sleeping continuing even after lockdown was eased over the summer months, data published by the Greater London Authority on Friday showed.

And there was a 19% fall in street homelessness to 3,444 on average over July and September compared to the previous three months when it sat at 4,227.

But the number of people living permanently on the streets rose, and 55% of all rough sleepers during the period – about 2,000 – were doing so for the first time.

The figure of 3,444, collated by multi-agency database the Combined Homelessness And Information Network (Chain), is a drop of 14% compared to the same period last year.

Westminster recorded the highest number of newly homeless people on its streets at 434.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis, said: “These figures show that the initial influx of people forced onto the streets at the start of the pandemic has not escalated at the pace we feared.

“However, the fact remains that 3,444 is a huge number of people to be sleeping on the streets of our capital at any time, let alone during a pandemic.

“That almost 2,000 of them are sleeping rough for the first time is alarming, with the risk of infection...

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