Government must break the cycle of the trauma of sleeping rough

1 May 2025 01:44 PM

Homeless Link responds to the CHAIN Q4 2024/25 statistics

On 30 April, the CHAIN homelessness database published its quarterly report detailing levels of rough sleeping in London between January and March 2025. CHAIN is the UK’s most detailed and comprehensive rough sleeping database.

Key findings for Q4 2024/25 include:

• A total of 4,427 people were recorded as sleeping rough in the capital. This is 8% higher than in January to March 2024, but 4% down on the previous quarter.
• There was a 38% annual increase in the number of people ‘living on the streets’ to 706 people. 
• The number of new rough sleepers was 2,085. This is a 2% increase on the same period last year, but a 1% decrease on the previous quarter.

Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, the national membership body for frontline homelessness services, said: 

“News of the latest devastating number of people forced to sleep rough is a harsh reminder of how acutely critical the Government’s homelessness funding review and new national strategy will be, as well as the Mayor of London’s imminent Rough Sleeping Plan of Action.

“Our current patchwork support systems are failing the people they are intended to help. It is vital that we break the cycle of unacceptably high numbers of people facing the trauma of homelessness.

“We are calling for the Government to reset homelessness funding as part of its Comprehensive Spending Review, creating a sustainable and joined up system that gets results. With effective funding in place, the new homelessness strategy will be able to take a truly collaborative approach across government departments and invest in the long-term solutions and homelessness prevention that we know are key to ending homelessness for good.”