About this study

Between 2,500 and 3,400 people slept rough on London's streets each year between 2000/01 and 2007/8. This study analysed data on around 13,000 people first seen sleeping rough in London from April 2000.

It demonstrated that rough sleeping remains a major challenge in London, while it highlighted the diversity of experiences of rough sleepers in the city. You can read a summary of the findings here. You can see the full findings on the website of Broadway, the London homelessness charity we worked with.

Potential policy impact

The aim of policy should be to reduce the continued high inflow of new rough sleepers, as well as helping rough sleepers into more stable accommodation.

To improve monitoring and policy development, Communities and Local Government (CLG) should distinguish between first-time rough sleepers, rough sleeper stock and returners.

Timeline

This study tracked rough sleepers through their contacts with support organisations and sightings by outreach workers, as recorded on the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) database until March 2008. We also included data about Clearing House and hostel accommodation in our analysis.

We carried out descriptive and regression analyses of this longitudinal dataset. Broadway also conducted a qualitative study of rough sleepers in London.