One in four homeless people in England are not British

Figures released on Thursday showed that 4,793 people slept rough on a single night last autumn, breaking the previous record of 4,751 in 2017.

In what is the fourth annual rise in a row, the number represents an increase of 171 per cent since 2010.

Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of rough sleepers are not from the UK, which rises to nearly half of all rough sleepers in London (47 per cent).

And since 2021, the number of non-UK nationals sleeping rough has risen by 92 per cent.

Among those with non-European Union nationalities, the increase has been higher - a rise of 396 per cent.

Net migration peaked at 944,000 in the year ending March 2023 and has been falling since mid-2024.

However, there has been a continued rise of small boat migrants, while asylum applications stood at 104,764 in 2024.

GB News first revealed that almost 600 illegal migrants crossed the English Channel on Wednesday, the biggest one-day surge this year.

But asylum seekers being housed in hotels has also fallen to the lowest level in 18 months at 30,657, with the Labour party relocating asylum seekers in other forms of accommodation.

Labour has pledged to stop using hotels to house asylum seekers and has begun to place them in army barracks, council houses and HMOs across the country.

In its report, the CSJ called for the Government to tackle rough housing by doubling the capacity of the Housing First scheme, which aims to give rough sleepers a permanent home and care.

The CSJ has said 5,600 places should be provided by the end of this Parliament.

The think tank also proposed Dutch-style return arrangements for non-UK citizens sleeping rough.

The Dutch scheme provides short-term accommodation and support for homeless EU citizens, then works with charities to either return the rough sleeper to their home country or help them move back into work and housing.

Tory MP Bob Blackman, the co-chair for the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness said: "The levels of rough sleeping revealed today are a national disgrace and undermine any ambition this government might have to end rough sleeping for good.

"The CSJ’s analysis shows a system trapped in crisis and a state unable to keep pace with the pressures it faces. The public expect that those with no right to be in the UK, or those who would be better supported by returning home, are not left to languish across our town and city centres."

The Government had pledged £50million to help deal with homelessness, split between "ending homelessness in communities" and a long-term rough sleeping innovation programme.

But Big Issue founder and campaigner Lord Bird said: "It’s deeply concerning that the government cannot get a grasp on rough sleeping. It’s clearly not enough to throw resources at pulling people out of homelessness, given the rate that people are falling victim to it."

Alison McGovern, the Homelessness Minister, said: "We have to get our kids out of B&B accommodation, and it is good that today we see progress against this target.

"There are simply too many people facing life on the streets or in temporary accommodation. While today’s statistics show progress in some areas, it is clearly not good enough.

She said the Government was investing £3.6billion in tackling homelessness, including the £50million announced on Thursday, to help councils and voluntary groups.