Scepticism at Khan’s vow to end rough sleeping

… as figures show numbers on streets have risen 71% since 2016

SADIQ KHAN today pledged to “eliminate” rough sleeping in London by 2030 — despite the number of people living on the streets having soared 71 per cent since he has been Mayor.

Latest figures show 4,389 people were found sleeping rough between October and January, compared with 2,561 just prior to Mr Khan taking office in 2016.

The 4,389 recorded by outreach teams is the highest for several years and is about 1,500 more since the pandemic was followed by the cost of living crisis.

In January, more than 300 refugees ended up on the streets after being evicted from Home Office hotels, a situation described by London Councils as “deeply alarming”. It said there had been a 32 per cent increase in rough sleepers in the last year, with the capital the worst affected part of the country.

On an average night, more than 1,100 people will be sleeping rough in London. Familiar locations include Tottenham Court Road, where the population of tent dwellers appears to have increased. Many others can be found asleep on the Night Tube at weekends. At the end of Mr Khan’s first term in 2021, rough sleeping had fallen 19 per cent year on year. Today’s manifesto commitment —trailed in his TV election broadcast earlier this month — aims to “condemn the scandal of rough sleeping to history” in London, but not until two years after the next four-year mayoral term ends in 2028.

This suggests that Mr Khan plans to leave the policy to his successor to complete — or, probably more unlikely, is eyeing a fourth term as mayor, should he be re-elected on May 2.

According to the Combined Homelessness and Information Network, which is commissioned by the Greater London Authority to provide quarterly and annual statistics on rough sleeping, 1,070 of the people spotted on the streets between January and March were in and around the West End boroughs of Westminster and Camden. The 4,389 total included 2,283 new rough sleepers, of which 1,652 spent “no second night out”. A further 1,610 people were described as “intermittent” rough sleepers. More than 1,700 were British, 1,065 European, 680 from Africa and 442 from Asia. The vast majority — 3,630 — were men, and were most likely to be aged 36 to 45.

Only a third of the 3,384 who were assessed were not found to have alcohol, drug or mental health problems.

More than 800 had been in prison, over 140 had been in the armed forces and almost 250 had been in care.

The figures do not include the many thousands of Londoners regarded as “hidden homeless”: people who are “sofa surfing” or living in squats.

City Hall already spends more than £36 million a year on homelessness services. Mr Khan plans to boost this by £10 million and double to six the number of “ending homelessness hubs” across the capital.

He wants to help at least 1,700 rough sleepers off the streets by 2028 and provide specialist assessment and support for people.