People sleeping rough in London (2008/09 - 2023/24)
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the total number of people seen sleeping rough in London, by year. This information comes from CHAIN, a database about people sleeping rough in London maintained by charity outreach workers. It contains a record for everyone known to staff and volunteers throughout the specified year.
Further down the page you’ll find the number of people sleeping rough in London by ethnicity and gender.
What does it tell us?
The number of people sleeping rough in London more than tripled between 2008/09 and 2020/21 from around 3,472 to 11,018. 2021/22 saw the number fall back somewhat to 8,329 but it has increased again reaching 11,993 in 2023/24.
The number of people seen sleeping rough in London increased in both 2019/20 and 2020/21, despite initiatives like “Everybody In” which aimed to ensure that people sleeping rough were adequately sheltered during the pandemic. This may in part be because the measure used here counts the number of individuals known to sleep rough in a year, not the amount of time they were sleeping rough for.
People sleeping rough by ethnicity
White people are the largest single ethnic group of rough sleepers (5,127). However, the proportion of rough sleepers who are white has declined significantly from 71% in 2011/12 to 43% in 2023/24.
There has been a corresponding increase in the number of rough sleepers from minority ethnic backgrounds who form the majority (51%) of rough sleepers in London for the first time in 2023/24.
Black people make up 25% of rough sleepers in the capital - up from 15% a decade ago and 14% 5 years ago.
People sleeping rough in London by ethnicity (2011/12 - 2023/24)
People sleeping rough by gender
A large majority (82%) of people sleeping rough in London are men. In the last 10 years the number of female rough sleepers has increased by more than 100%.
People sleeping rough in London by gender (2011/12 - 2023/24)
Want to know more?
If you want to explore this data in more depth, check the 'data source and notes' button on the above charts. This will tell you where the data comes from, where you may be able to dig deeper.