Homelessness in the United Kingdom is measured and responded to in differing waysin England,Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but affects people living each of thecountries of the United Kingdom. Most homeless people have at least a modicum of shelter but without anysecurity of tenure. Unsheltered people, "rough sleepers", are a small minority of homeless people.
Homeless charityShelter estimated in 2024 that the number of people in England who were entirely homeless or in temporary accommodation was 354,000.[1][2] Rough sleepers are only a small proportion of the homeless.[3]Crisis estimates there are roughly 12,300 rough sleepers in the UK and also 12,000 people sleeping in sheds, bins, cars, tents andnight busses. The figure is derived from research byHeriot-Watt University.
According to figures from theDepartment of Communities and Local Government, the number of people registered as homeless with local councils was just over 100,000 in 1998, rose to 135,000 in 2003 before declining in the years up to and during theGreat Recession. After a low of 40,000 in 2009 and 2010, the figure rose to just under 60,000 in 2017.[3] The number living in temporary accommodation rose from 50,000 in 1998 to 100,000 in 2005, declining back to 50,000 in 2011, then rising to 80,000 in 2017.[3]
The number of rough sleepers was 4,800 in 2017 compared to 1,800 in 2010, when comparable records begin. Crisis attributes rising homelessness to a shortage of social housing, housing benefits not covering private rents and a shortage of homeless prevention schemes for people leaving care.[4]
Of homeless people who died in 2017, the average age was 44 for men and 42 for women. Suicide, drugs including alcohol, are the most common causes of death among the homeless in the UK.[5] There are documented cases of homeless being traumatically crushed by trash compacting machinery when sleeping in disposal bins.[6]
In 2023, the number of homeless people in England hit record levels, with 104,510 people in England in temporary accommodation.[7] An estimated 3,898 people slept rough in England in 2023, over double the estimated figure from 2010.[8]
Historically, support for people who became homeless was provided bymonastic communities. Afterthe Reformation, forms of support through early local government structures were provided by means of thepoor law, which differed inEngland and Wales,Scotland, andIreland.
Eventually, a system of formally electedlocal authorities replaced thepoor law unions. The current system of local authority housing and homelessness assistance in England, was introduced by the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 and is currently overseen through theHousing Act 1996.[9]
Thepenny sit-up was one of the firsthomeless shelters in central London created for the people ofBlackfriars. It was established during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The shelter was operated byThe Salvation Army to provide support to destitute people.[10] What made this shelter unique was that in exchange for apenny, people would be allowed to sit on a bench in a reasonably warm room all night. They were not allowed to lie down and sleep on the bench. In another charitable hostel inPreston, Lancashire in 1910, the Penny Sit-Up was described as "a penny is paid for entrance, and the men spend their nights lying on the bare floor, or sitting against the wall. There are no bunks or beds of any sort, only wooden kneelers for pillows; there is no stove".[11] Another description in the same year says that "In Preston there is "the Penny Sit-up," or as Mr. Edwards prefers to call it, " The House of Despair." ... The room is literally bare. No fireplace, no stove hot water pipes, no sink, no water, no beds, chairs, blankets, no mattresses — nothing whatever for the furnishing of the room except small, very small oil lamp, very dimly lighted, and four long wooden kneelers about two inches off the floor sloping upwards towards the back. These are wooden pillows, and presently the floor of this room will be covered with bodies lying feet to feet in two double rows down the length of the room."[12]
A penny sit-up was the cheapest homeless shelter at that time. There were more expensive shelters available in London, such as a "four penny coffin", where the clients were provided with a coffin-sized box so that they can sleep lying-down, and a "two-penny hangover", in which clients were allowed to sleep on a bench in an upright position, with a rope to stop them falling over when as they slept.[citation needed]
By 1912, the Salvation Army's Penny Sit-Up in Blackfriars had been closed.[13]
By today's standards, the penny sit-up would be considered inadequate and callous. However, at the time it was considered a well-meaning, inexpensive, and compassionate attempt to deal with the recent explosion inhomelessness caused by the rapidurbanisation of 19th century England. The Salvation Army believed these shelters provided relief from the harsh London winters and provided new followers ofChristianity. Others, such as Professor Howard Sercombe of theUniversity of Strathclyde, have argued that such institutions were more likely to have been designed to control the homeless, or at the very best were a compassionate response to the harsh "moving on" laws of the time, which made it illegal for people to remain vagrant upon the streets.[14][full citation needed]
Thefour penny coffin orcoffin house was one of the firsthomeless shelters created for the people of centralLondon. It was operated by theSalvation Army during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to provide comfort and aid to its destitute clients.[citation needed]
For four pennies, a homeless client could stay at a coffin house. He received food and shelter. Moreover, he was allowed to lie down flat on his back and sleep in acoffin-shaped wooden box. The client was given atarpaulin for covering. What made this unique is that it was the cheapest homeless shelter in London at that time that allowed its clients to lie down on their back and sleep. The Salvation Army also offered shelters that allowed its clients to sleep on a bed for a much higher price. Hence, the coffin house was popular because it offered an economical and mid-range solution for homeless clients looking for relief from the cold.[15]
Some of the main causes of homelessness in the UK include:[16][17]
Certain people can find it harder to rent and are at an increased risk of homelessness.[17] These people include: those facing discrimination (i.e. because of their ethnicity, sex, gender or disability), a lone parent, refugees, those experiencing domestic abuse, those receiving benefits, and those leaving prison, the care system or the armed forces.[17]
The longer term causes of homelessness have been examined by a number of research studies. A number of different pathways into homelessness have been identified;[18] research suggests that both personal factors (e.g. addictions) and structural factors (e.g. poverty) are ultimately responsible for the sequence of events that results in homelessness. For young people, there are additional factors that appear to be involved, most notably needing to face the responsibilities of independent living before they are ready for them.[19] Rising costs of housing and increases injob insecurity have also been identified as contributing factors.[20]
Tim Renshaw, chief executive of the Archer Project stated in October 2025,
"We have one of the worst systems in terms of making housing available to the poorest. We are looking at homelessness being related to health factors - trauma, depression, anxiety. And we've increasing levels of poverty."[21]
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Policy on homelessness is overseen by theMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government andHomes and Communities Agency in England,[22] theScottish GovernmentCommunities Directorate in Scotland,[23] theWelsh Government,[24] and theDepartment for Communities andNorthern Ireland Housing Executive[25][26]in Northern Ireland. It has been a devolved policy area outside England since the introduction ofdevolution in the 1990s. Scotland has a dedicatedMinister for Housing who is a junior minister of the Scottish Government, who has direct responsibility for homelessness and rough sleeping, government policy on housing and debt advice.[27]
TheGrenfell Tower fire in June 2017 focused national attention on homelessness and housing quality, and resulted in around 255 people becoming homeless overnight.[28] It was reported inThe Guardian in 2018 that half of young people at risk of homelessness in the UK who approached their local authority, received no significant help.[29]
All Local Housing Authorities (LHAs) in the United Kingdom have a legal statutory duty to provide 24-hour advice tohomeless people, or those who are at risk of becoming homeless within 28 days. Once an individual applies to the appropriate City Council, Borough Council, District Council or Unitary Authority for assistance, from a person claiming to be homeless (or threatened with homelessness), the Local Housing Authority is also legally duty bound to make detailed inquiries into that person's circumstances, in order to decide whether they meet the criteria, which are defined asstatutory homelessness. For people meeting such criteria, the Local Housing Authority therefore has a legal statutory duty to find Temporary Accommodation for the person, and then provide them with assistance to find a permanent, long term adequate dwelling, that will usually be within the Private Rented Sector (PRS), but sometimes will be a property with a Housing Association, a council house, or a council flat.
A person suffersstatutory homelessness if governmental regulations oblige the council to provide housing-related support to the person. At present this criterion is met if (and only if) all of the following conditions are true:
The definition ofpriority need varies between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, but generally includes any of following conditions being met:
A person does not have to be roofless to legally qualify as lacking a permanent home. They may be in possession of accommodation which it is not reasonably feasible to continue to use by virtue of its affordability, condition, or location. The requirement to have alocal connection does not apply if it would lead to the applicant becoming a victim of violence, or at risk of violence.
In Wales,priority need was similarly extended to include individuals who are aged 18 to 20 and at risk of financial or sexual exploitation, but provided they are leaving care.
Temporary accommodation must be provided to those that might be sufferingstatutory homelessness, pending a final decision. Oftenbed and breakfast hotels are used for temporary accommodation, unless a suitablehostel orrefuge is available. The suitability of temporary accommodation is often a topic of concern for local media, and pressure groups.
If the council concludes that the applicant suffersstatutory homelessness then the local authority has a legal duty to find long-term accommodation for the applicant and their household (those dependants who would ordinarily be living with them), and any other person whom it is reasonable to expect to reside with them. The council must offer/continue to provide temporary accommodation to such an applicant, on an immediate basis, until long-term accommodation is found for them.
Long-term accommodation may not necessarily be a socially rented home (one provided by the council, or by aHousing Association); the council can discharge its duty by finding an appropriate private sector tenancy for the applicant.
If the authority decides that a person does lack a home, but does not qualify as sufferingstatutory homelessness, then a lesser obligation applies.
Where the applicant merely lacks alocal connection to the council, the council will usually refer the applicant's case to a local authority with which they do have alocal connection. If the applicant is inpriority need, but is considered to have become homeless intentionally, the local authority is obliged to provide temporary accommodation for as long as is reasonably necessary for the applicant to find long-term accommodation; this is usually a fortnight, but additional periods of similar length can sometimes be provided at the council's discretion which are typically granted in cases of extenuating circumstances.[citation needed]
A national service, calledStreetlink, was established in 2012 to help members of the public obtain near-immediate assistance for specific rough sleepers, with the support of the Government (as housing is a devolved matter, the service currently only extends to England). Currently, the service doesn't operate on a statutory basis, and the involvement of local authorities is merely due to political pressure from the government and charities, with funding being provided by the government (and others) on an ad-hoc basis. The UK government has cut funding to local authorities and local authorities feel forced to reduce services for people experiencing homelessness. It is feared this will increase the numbers of rough sleepers and increase the numbers dying while sleeping rough.[31]
A member of the public who is concerned that someone is sleeping on the streets can report the individual's details via the Street Link website or by calling its hotline. Someone who finds themselves sleeping on the streets can also report their situation using the same methods.
The service aims to respond within 24 hours, including an assessment of the individual circumstances and an offer of temporary accommodation for the following nights. The response typically includes a visit to the rough sleeper early in the morning that follows the day or night on which the report has been made. The service operates via a number of charities and with the assistance of local councils.
Where appropriate, rough sleepers will also be offered specialist support:
Other organisations, like The Connection at St. Martin's, address a range of complex needs. This is because many people sleeping rough struggle with multiple complex needs like addiction, poor mental health or unclear immigration status.
It was reported in 2018 that at least 50 local authorities had enacted Public Space Protection Orders to deter begging in town centres.[32] Liberty has argued that these ordinances are illegal and that people experiencing homelessness often lack the access to the legal aid support needed to challenge them.[33]
In 2024, 1,611 homeless people died in the UK, a record high according to theMuseum of Homelessness.[21] This was a 9% increase on the year before, with most deaths linked to suicide or drugs.[21]
Data from theOffice of National Statistics states the average age of death for those experiencing homelessness in England and Wales is 45 for men and 43 for women.[16][34]
Homeless people are over nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population.[16]
To prevent homelessness the charityCrisis maintains the public sector should:[35]
Practical advice regarding homelessness can be obtained through a number of major non-governmental organisations including,
if he had only a penny to spare, he would go to the 'Penny Sit-Up' at Westminster (also belonging to The Salvation Army) now done away with. This at any rate was better than the outside cold, as here was warmth
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