Andrew Reece was 37 and sleeping rough in Stoke-on-Trent when, on May 10, 2023, he took his own life in an abandoned and roofless orphanage.
Reece, known locally as Pud, was one of an estimated 155 people who died in Britain last year while sleeping rough, an annual increase of 42%, according to a count by the Museum of Homelessness project.
The jump in fatalities, described by the campaigning organization as “an emergency on our streets”, appears to be disproportionate compared to government estimates of the rise in rough sleeping, which in England rose by 27% over the same period.
The museum’s count, which used different methods to collect 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 for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said: “Each of these deaths is a tragedy and is a damning indictment of the disgraceful rise in homelessness in recent years.”
Homelessness campaigners are frustrated by 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-street accommodation and to the widespread closure of winter shelters since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Other deceased included in the figures were Stephen Cook, 45, who was murdered while sleeping rough 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 homeless deaths by checking coroner’s reports, local newspapers, family testimony and by making Freedom of Information requests.
Official figures on homeless deaths have not been released for two years. When they were last released, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated there had been 741 homeless deaths in England and Wales in 2021.
Earlier this year, the ONS faced opposition to a plan to stop publishing a count of homeless deaths, then announced it would continue to do so. Campaigners said the annual publication was a regular reminder of society’s need to ensure it does not fail people struggling with homelessness. The ONS said it would publish the figures again using a revised methodology in 2025.
Across all forms of homelessness in the UK, which includes people living in temporary accommodation, the number of deaths rose by 12% between 2022 and 2023, according to the museum. It was broadly in line with the wider rise in homelessness recorded in England by the ONS.
Matt Turtle, a co-director of the Museum of Homelessness, said: “People are dying on the streets at alarming rates. The only way to tackle this emergency is with an increase in support for off-street housing such as winter shelters. Labor has yet to set out plans to mitigate the damage caused by the last government. Our analysis suggests that unless the government acts now to save lives, things will get much bleaker.”
A spokesman for MHCLG said: “We are taking action by setting up a dedicated cross-government group, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, to develop a long-term strategy to get us back on track to end homelessness. Councils and their partners are delivering vital work to tackle rough sleep, including drug and alcohol treatment and wrap-around support. Grants will be set according to the budget.”