Rough sleeping statistics - CIH response

Following this morning's publication of autumn 2019's rough-sleeping snapshot statistics, CIH director of policy James Prestwich said: "While it’s welcome news that the government has announced an extra £236 million to help people who are sleeping rough in England, it remains completely unacceptable that in one of the wealthiest countries in the world more than 4,000 people are forced into sleeping on our streets.

"And these figures only represent a single-night snapshot and are therefore unlikely to represent the full extent of the problem, while many more people are forced to ‘sofa surf’ or live in unsuitable accommodation.

"Rough sleeping is a symptom of wider problems, including a shortage of genuinely affordable housing and a welfare system that no longer supports people on low incomes to meet their housing costs.

"We need to see a cross-governmental approach to end the scourge of rough sleeping, including financial support for homes at social rents, good quality supported housing and a review of the impact of welfare policies on meeting the government’s stated objective of ending the national shame of rough sleeping."