On 27 February, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published the annual rough sleeping snapshot, which showed 4,667 people were estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2024 in England.
This is an increase of 770 people or 20% on the 2023 rough sleeping snapshot estimate total (3,897).
Figures for Canterbury show an estimate of 31 people sleeping rough on a single night between 1 October and 30 November, compared to 33 people in 2023. The Council's estimate was informed by a spotlight count and by information about rough sleeping from local agencies, including Catching Lives.
Tasmin Maitland, Chief Executive of Catching Lives, said: "We're frustrated that rough sleeping numbers for Canterbury remain similar to the previous year. It's terrible that so many people are left with no choice but to sleep rough each night. We've opened the Canterbury Community Shelter for the coldest part of the year, from mid-December to mid-March, as a response to this ongoing rough sleeping crisis, but more has to be done to reduce these levels of need.
"We're working with the council’s housing and rough sleeping teams, as well as housing providers such as Porchlight, to help people find more stable housing. So far, six Shelter guests have moved on to more stable forms of accommodation but, with less than two weeks to go, some of our remaining guests will become street homeless when the Shelter closes."
Read FAQS on Canterbury Community Shelter here.
Rick Henderson, Chief Executive of Homeless Link, the national membership body for frontline homelessness charities in England, said: “It is beyond devastating and shameful that our society has allowed thousands upon thousands of people to face the trauma of sleeping rough across this country. In recent memory we almost halved rough sleeping (from its 2017 peak). We know what works and yet once again the situation is getting worse every year. More and more lives are being irreparably damaged, failed by the systems that meant to support them.
“We can see the causes of homelessness wherever we look. A welfare system unfit for purpose, an acute shortage of truly affordable housing, extremely over-stretched homelessness, health and social care services and a disconnect between government policies – from hospitals and prisons discharging people onto the streets to people leaving the asylum system with nowhere to live.
“This must end here. The Labour Government must do what its predecessor failed to – to put the right funding and support in place to prevent and end homelessness for good.
“Homeless Link is calling for a wholesale review and reset of homelessness funding that can enable support to be turned on its head. We desperately need a more efficient and effective funding approach that can drive a system rooted in preventing people’s homelessness and provide support to make sure that everyone has a home and the help they need to keep it.”
Comments