Thames Reach statement on the Home Secretary’s recent comments about rough sleeping

10^th November 2023

At Thames Reach, we do not believe that living on the streets is a “lifestyle choice”. Rough sleeping is a complex problem, and while the roots and solutions of this problem are not purely related to the housing market, there are particular pressures on rented accommodation which have led to a recent increase in street homelessness, and which make it more difficult to resolve. Criminalising people for their homelessness is not a solution.

The most recent annual statistics of people rough sleeping in London revealed a 21% increase in people sleeping rough in the capital from last year, exposing the real impact of not only the cost-of-living and housing crises, but also tighter immigration and asylum restrictions post-Brexit, as well as the impact of rushed changes to the asylum system. They represent a huge 250% increase on the figure for 2010. Meanwhile, research by Homeless Link has found there has been a 24% decrease in the number of supported housing beds available to help people move off the streets.

We believe that labelling sleeping rough as a “lifestyle choice”for people forced to sleep on the streets will impact the health and wellbeing of vulnerable people, while doing nothing to address the true causes of rough sleeping.

Instead we should work harder to prevent people needing to sleep rough in the first place, and to make sure that there are quick and effective routes off the streets for anyone who finds themselves in this position. We’d like to see the Government focus on measures that increase the support options available for people to find accommodation, and address the issues that lead people to be forced to sleep rough.

Thames Reach is concerned that the recent Home Office acceleration of asylum claims is leading to an increase in the number of people rough sleeping in London – in direct contradiction to the Government’s commitment to end rough sleeping for good.

The Home Office has sped up the processing of asylum claims recently in an effort to reduce the backlog of applications. But due to short notice periods, and a lack of quick support available to access the help they are entitled to, we are worried that many of those granted leave to remain will be unable to find accommodation in the short amount of time provided and end up having to sleep on the streets.

Newly recognised refugees and asylum seekers receive a ‘notice to quit’ from Home Office accommodation once their claim is approved – previously they had 28 days to find alternative accommodation, but by the time they receive the notice the actual time available can be as little as 7 days. For people who are not eligible for emergency council accommodation, the current rental market makes it impossible to find somewhere to live in this short amount of time.

This year, our outreach teams are seeing far higher numbers of former asylum seekers sleeping rough following a positive Home Office decision compared with 2022 – with a fivefold increase recorded as of October 2023. We are concerned that these numbers will increase even further.

Bill Tidnam, Thames Reach Chief Executive, says: ‘We are really concerned that we are seeing increased numbers of former asylum seekers sleeping rough, and that this is likely to increase further without action from government. We need extended notice periods and better support for people being evicted from Home Office accommodation, so that there is a chance for them to find housing before they end up on the streets.’