Andrew Reece was 37 and sleeping rough in Stoke-on-Trent when on 10 May 2023 he took his own life in an abandoned and roofless children’s home.
Reece, known locally as Pud, was one of an estimated 155 people who died in the UK last year while rough sleeping, an annual increase of 42%, according to a count by the Museum of Homelessness project.
The jump in fatalities, described by the campaign organisation as “an emergency on our streets”, appears to be disproportionately large compared with the government’s estimate of the rise in rough sleeping, which in England increased 27% over a similar period.
The museum’s count, which used different methods to the collection of official figures, also found that at least 38 people died by suicide while homeless in the UK in 2023, half of them under 35.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said: “Every one of these deaths is a tragedy and is a damning indictment of the disgraceful rise in homelessness in recent years.”
Homelessness campaigners are frustrated at the lack of funding announcements, which are not expected until after the budget. The Museum of Homelessness said rising deaths among rough sleepers were “clearly linked to insufficient investment in life-saving off-the-streets accommodation and to the widespread closure of winter shelters since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Other deceased included in the numbers were Stephen Cook, 45, who was murdered while rough sleeping in Exeter in January 2023, and Alison Dodds, 51, who was murdered in Blackpool by a man who had offered her a place to stay.
The museum counts the deaths of homeless people by checking coroners’ reports, local newspapers, family testimonies and by making freedom of information requests.
Official figures on homeless deaths have not been released for two years. The last time they were released, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated there had been 741 deaths of homeless people in England and Wales in 2021.
Earlier this year the ONS faced opposition to a plan to stop publishing a count of homeless deaths, and then announced it would continue to do so. Campaigners said the annual release was a regular reminder of society’s need to make sure it doesn’t fail people who are struggling with homelessness. The ONS said it would publish the numbers again, using a revised methodology, in 2025.
Across all forms of homelessness in the UK, which includes people living in temporary accommodation, fatalities increased by 12% between 2022 and 2023, according to the museum. That was broadly in line with the wider increase in homelessness recorded in England by the ONS.
Matt Turtle, a co-director of the Museum of Homelessness, said: “People are dying on the street at terrifying rates. The only way to tackle this emergency is with an increase in support for off-the-streets accommodation, like winter shelters. Labour has not yet set out plans to mitigate the damage caused by the last government. Our analysis indicates things are set to get much grimmer unless the government acts now to save lives.”
An MHCLG spokesperson said: “We are taking action by setting up a dedicated cross-government group, chaired by the deputy prime minister, to develop a long-term strategy to get us back on track to end homelessness. Councils and their partners deliver vital work to tackle rough sleeping, including drug and alcohol treatment and wrap-around support. Funding allocations will be set out following the budget.”