BCP in the top three local authorities for homelessness in the UK

According to the latest government statistics Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole had the third most people sleeping rough for at least one night in Autumn of 2022. This year that number is expected to rise again.

In 2021 BCP had 29 people sleeping rough over the autumn and in 2022 64 people. This was a 121% increase. This was a greater increase than any local authority in the UK.

BCP had the highest number in the Southwest of England with the second highest being Bristol with 58 and third being Cornwall with 43.

National Statistics on Local authorities with highest numbers of people sleeping rough 2022. — BCP sits at third highest amounts of people sleeping rough in 2022. Credit – Darcy Miller

This spike comes after homelessness increased for the first time in 5 years, since 2017, most likely due to the cost-of-living crisis. It showed that 3069 people spent a night homeless in the autumn of 2022 compared to 2443 in 2021. It is estimated that over 2605 of these are over the age of 26 and over ¾ are male.

Although this figure may seem relatively small the Government report ‘Statutory homelessness in England: financial year 2022-23’ states that 140,790 households need council support to prevent homelessness this last year.

Graph of number of people sleeping rough across the country by year since 2010. 3069 in the year 2022. — Homelessness across the country is on the rise once again. Credit – Darcy Miller

BCP council have a ‘Homelessness and rough sleeping strategy 2021-2025’ plan. In which they state their vision is “Ending homelessness in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole by ensuring everyone has a safe place to live that they can call home.”

Charities for the homeless and those in poverty in Bournemouth and the wider area have been experiencing a large increase in those looking for help. ‘We are Humans’ a Bournemouth charity said they’ve seen massive increases in the last few weeks.

Andrew Talbot, the charity’s founder said that more people are needing help. Their weekly pensioners’ lunch is usually full. “More people are becoming homeless that shouldn’t generally be,” he said.

“For one distribution our numbers have doubled in the last six weeks.”

The charity Shelter said in a press release last year that they were expecting a “sharp rise in homelessness in 2023.”

The number of those living on the streets for at least one night this autumn is expected to be higher than last year.