Homeless figures double in the West over seven years
THE number of people sleeping rough in west London has nearly doubled in seven years, according to the latest figures.
A total of 401 people were recorded as sleeping rough by west London boroughs in autumn 2017, while figures for autumn 2010 show just 204 rough sleepers across the region.
The biggest increase in the number of rough sleepers has been seen in Ealing, with just five in autumn 2010 but 67 in autumn 2017.
Rough sleeping in the borough more than doubled in just one year, from 27 in 2016 to 67 in 2017.
More than half the rough sleepers in west London were found in Westminster, with 217 people sleeping on the borough’s streets in autumn 2017, up from 127 in autumn 2010.
Hillingdon had the third largest number of people sleeping rough, with 36 in 2017, up from nine in 2010.
Across England, 4,751 people were found to be sleeping rough, an increase of 169% on the 1,768 recorded in 2010.
The capital as a whole saw an 18% increase in rough sleeping last year, outpacing the 14% increase registered throughout England.
Just shy of a quarter of all people sleeping on the streets (1,137 of 4,751) were found in London, but homelessness charity Crisis warned the true figures may be significantly higher.
The charity estimates around 8,000 people slept on the streets in England in 2017, in addition to an estimated 9,000 people who slept in tents, cars, trains and buses.
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said: “It is truly a catastrophe that in a country as prosperous as this, more and more people are finding themselves forced to sleep in dangerous and freezing conditions, when we have evidence to show how the situation could be turned around
“Today’s report makes it only too clear that unless we take action as a society, the problem is only going to keep getting worse with every year that passes. Rough sleeping ruins lives, leaving people vulnerable to violence and abuse and taking a dreadful toll on mental and physical health.
“Our research has shown how rough sleepers are 17 times more likely to be victims of violence. This is no way for anyone to live.”
The proportion of people from the EU and people of unknown nationalities sleeping on the streets were both higher in London compared with England as a whole.