What are the different types of homelessness?

Rough sleeping may be the most visible form of homelessness, but it is the tip of the iceberg. Most people experiencing homelessness will not be on the streets. They will have a roof over their heads but not a permanent home to build a life and flourish.

Recognising all forms of homelessness is essential. Only then can people get the proper support they need to rebuild their lives.

Rough sleeping

At bus stops, train stations, under bridges, in parks, and nestled in shop doorways. These are a few places where people sleep rough in our towns and cities.

It could be someone sleeping on the streets for the first time. Or it could be someone who has been sleeping rough for months or years.

The true scale of rough sleeping in England is unknown. The Government’s Rough Sleeping Snapshot reported 7,326 people on the streets in June 2023. But this is an estimate, with local councils providing a snapshot from just one night.

In London, we have a more accurate figure for rough sleeping through the CHAIN database.

• Between April 2023 and March 2024, 11,993 people spent at least one night on London’s streets. This is 63% higher than the 7,581 people seen rough sleeping ten years ago.
• 7,974 new rough sleepers bedded down in London for the first time in 2023/24, up from 6,391 in 2022/23 – an increase of 25%.
• Nearly half (46%) of people sleeping rough in the UK are in London and the South East of England.

Official stats say women are 15% of all rough sleepers. But this is dangerously wrong.

Outreach services often miss women and thus are not counted in official stats. Women hide from danger on the streets and, consequently, from the services meant to support them. In 2022, we piloted the first-ever Women’s Rough Sleeping report, ‘Making Women Count‘. It aimed to better understand the number of women rough sleeping in London.

Building on this research, our 2023 count extended to 41 local authorities in England. We found that nine times as many women could be rough sleeping across England. The census found 391 women rough sleeping in London over five days, whereas the Government’s count found just 159.

Statutory homelessness

A person or family is statutorily homeless if they are all the following:

1. Legally defined as homeless
2. In priority need
3. Not ‘intentionally’ responsible for their homelessness.

Per the Homelessness Reduction Act, the local housing authority must find a secure home for anyone under these criteria. This is called the main homelessness duty.

Every year, tens of thousands of Londoners apply to their local authority for homelessness support. Local authorities support everyone with a main homelessness duty. They offer emergency housing or temporary accommodation to some households, including families with children, pregnant women, and vulnerable adults.

Temporary accommodation

This is one of the most common forms of homelessness. 170,000 Londoners, or 1 in 51 people in London, live in temporary housing. The local council must provide temporary housing if you have no other options.

Depending on availability, someone will be placed in one of the following types of temporary accommodation:

• Room in a shared house
• Flat or house from a private landlord
• Hotels and B&Bs
• Short-term council or housing association tenancy
• Hostel, refuge, or other housing with support

With high housing prices, a cost-of-living crisis, and few social homes, councils must rely more on temporary accommodation to keep Londoners off the streets.

Temporary housing is a short-term solution. But some get stuck in it for months, even years, if no other housing is found.

• 83,000 children are in temporary housing in London. So, at least one child in every London classroom is homeless.
• The number of families placed in B&Bs in London was 5,290 in the third quarter of 2023 (up from 3,967 in April 2023), a 25% increase. Over one-third will remain in a B&B for more than six weeks.
• London Councils estimate that boroughs spend £90 million monthly on temporary housing.

Hidden homelessness

People experiencing hidden homelessness are without a home and living in informal situations. This can include staying with friends or family, sleeping on sofas, or living in unsafe places, like squats. It can be a highly vulnerable position that can leave people at risk of abuse, assault, and exploitation and can lead to periods of rough sleeping.

Hidden homeless people are often not included in official statistics. Yet, they are the majority of single homeless people in England. They are usually ineligible for support or have yet to ask their council for it.

Three groups that are more likely to experience hidden homelessness:

Women

Women are likelier to stay with friends and family before approaching local authorities. So, they remain hidden for longer. Women who experience domestic abuse and turn to their local authority for help are often turned away or placed in unsuitable housing. This system’s failure forces women to deal with their situation, making them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Our research found that women’s homelessness is often hidden and happens at a greater scale than recognised. It also found that nearly all women experiencing homelessness have suffered domestic abuse.

Young people

People aged 16 to 25 are more likely to face hidden homelessness and rely on informal support networks, like staying with friends.

Research shows most people link homelessness only to rough sleeping which is not the case for most young homeless people. This is why young people may hide for years, not recognise themselves as homeless, or seek help.

Ethnic minority groups

A review found that Asian people in England face a higher risk of ‘hidden homelessness’. They are more likely to deal with their housing issues by staying with friends and relatives, often in overcrowded conditions.