The number of young people sleeping rough in London has risen to a record high with further increases forecast as sofa surfing and staying with friends has been outlawed by lockdown restrictions.
The Combined Homelessness and Information Network says the number of 16 to 25-year-olds sleeping rough has risen to 368 in 2020 up from 250 in the same period last year, an increase of 47 per cent.
Young people now make up 11 per cent of the capital’s rough sleepers, a figure described as “an historic high”, well above the normal level of eight per cent. The number of young people contacting Centrepoint’s helpline has risen by more than 50 per cent in 2020 compared with previous years.
Paul Brocklehurst, Centrepoint’s helpline manager, said:
“Time is running out to ensure adequate, age-appropriate provision is in place. The mayor needs to refocus his efforts and the resources he has at his disposal to address this rise in young people rough sleeping.”
Phil Kerry, the chief executive of New Horizon who chairs the sub-group on young rough sleepers of the mayor’s Life Off the Streets Taskforce, said:
“Young people are being ignored by the Government and in the mayor’s rough sleeping response.
“Many more young people who are sleeping rough are coming through our doors but most of the time we can’t find them a safe space to sleep that night.
We end up offering them the choice of a sleeping bag or us paying a stay in a shared room with total strangers at a backpacker’s hostel. There must instead be better and safer options.”
However, the latest figures also contain some good news as the overall number of people recorded as sleeping rough in London between July and September 2020 was 3,444, down by 14 per cent on the same period last year. There were 1,901 people sleeping rough for the first time, an eight per cent drop compared with 2019.
Lorrita Johnson, the Salvation Army’s director of homelessness services, said it was good to see a fall, but that “this short-term gain could still lead to a long-term crisis unless the Government acts now”.
By Patrick Mooney, Editor