Solace Women's Aid

Solace Women's Aid has been leading the delivery of the London Women’s Rough Sleeping Census alongside Single Homeless Project (SHP) and London Councils – we were also supported by the GLA.

 We now have the results of the 2023 census for London which we can share with you. We are also working on a national report which brings in the data from the 14 other areas that took part this week and that will be published in April/May 2024 with a full set of recommendations. 

 In London we received a total of 391 responses: this is over double the responses received in 2022, the pilot census year. This has allowed us to gain further understanding about the scale of women’s rough sleeping in London, the experiences of women and their patterns of rough sleeping. We will use this to continue to advocate for evidence-based system change and increased and improved provision for women.  Some of our key findings and emerging themes include:

• Data meetings taking place in 17 London boroughs recorded 656 known women and 193 unknown women. They also provided detailed insight from practitioners about the challenges facing them locally.
• As in 2022, women reported rough sleeping patterns which were transient and intermittent, and locations which were likely to be more hidden.
• These patterns fall outside the government definition of rough sleeping and mean that women are less likely to be identified during usual outreach work, making it harder for women to access support and accommodation pathways.
• 57% of respondents had been homeless in some form prior to rough sleeping and 34% had been in some form of homelessness accommodation prior to rough sleeping.
• This demonstrates that accommodation offered to women to resolve their homelessness is not preventing entry into or return to rough sleeping, likely due to being either unsustainable or unsuitable.
• In London, we recommend further work is undertaken to ensure that provision is  available for women who experience rough sleeping can meet their needs and resolve their homelessness.

• Women's Rough Sleeping Census, London (2023) (PDF)