Twice as many people are sleeping rough on Islington’s streets since this time last year, the latest data reveals.
The Town Hall heard last week that 162 people were sleeping rough – 85 more than in 2023.
A data report given to the Homes and Communities committee by Ian Swift, director of housing operations, found that between April and June this year, rough sleeping in the capital increased by 29 per cent.
This is the highest ever recorded—not counting during Covid-19.
Mr Swift pointed out that even at the height of the pandemic, there were only four more people sleeping rough in London than this year.
“One person sleeping on the streets is one person too many,” he said.
Since the last bi-monthly count, there were four fewer sleepers in the borough.
“From that data, it’s coming down in Islington, which is positive. However, new people are sleeping on the streets all the time,” he added.
While Islington’s levels of unhoused are significantly lower than boroughs like Westminster, it still has the ninth-highest number of rough sleepers out of 32 boroughs and the City of London.
The committee also heard a significant number of the new rough sleepers are those evicted from Home Office hotels after being granted settled status and these are mostly under-35s.
Government data on homelessness released in August by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government revealed that, between January and March 2024, there were 4,840 homeless refugee households in the UK.
The figure is almost quadruple the number counted in the same period last year.
The Town Hall expects to publish its revised rough sleeping strategy by the end of the year.
