Sleeping Rough

Rough sleepers are incredibly vulnerable. Of those who died while sleeping rough in London last year, the average age of death for men was 46, and just 42 for women. 

Rough sleeping is the most visible form of homelessness. It can mean sleeping outside, or in a car or abandoned building. People sleeping rough are very vulnerable and are at high risk of violence, theft, and serious illness. They are experiencing exposure, isolation and deprivation. Many rough sleepers develop substance abuse problems and mental health issues, which can make it all the more difficult for them to get off the streets.  

Despite a reduction in the last year, the number of people sleeping rough in London is more than four times what it was in 2005. 

Nearly 12,000 people were seen rough sleeping by outreach workers in London between April 2023 and March 2024. Nearly two thirds of these people were sleeping rough for the first time.

Six in ten rough sleepers surveyed said they had been insulted by a member of the public, and one in ten said that they had been urinated on. 

People sleeping rough face enormous physical difficulties, and also have to deal with the stigma of being visibly homeless. The social exclusion homeless people face can be very damaging, and prolong their homelessness. 

Homeless people are 17 times more likely to be a victim of violent crime than the general public, and 47 times more likely to be a victim of theft.

More than one in three have been deliberately been hit, kicked, or experienced some other form of violence while sleeping rough.

Three in ten female rough sleepers experience sexual violence at some point while homeless.