Over 10 times more women sleeping rough than official stats suggest, report says

Over 10 times more women could be sleeping rough in England than government data suggests, according to an innovative new count.

The women’s rough sleeping census was launched in 2022 as a response to women sleeping rough being missed by official counts.

Women on the street tend to be more hidden than their male counterparts. Rather than bedding down in shop doorways, women typically take shelter in places like night buses, 24-hour fast food restaurants and other locations where they may not be considered rough sleeping.

The census, led by Solace Women’s Aid and Single Homeless Project, took place last September and identified 1,014 women as having slept rough in the previous three months across 88 local authorities that carried the survey.

When compared to the official rough sleeping snapshot – which relies on single-night counts and estimates – the number of women counted was almost double the snapshot results in London and more than four times the numbers recorded outside London.

Read more:

• I was made homeless aged 16. Rough sleeping is completely different for women than it is men
• Women who are sleeping rough are often hidden. It’s a much bigger problem than anyone thinks
• There could be more than 5,000 women sleeping rough in England. We must find them

A total of 1,777 women were identified through multi-agency ‘local insight’ meetings across 37 local authority areas, revealing over 10 times as many women are sleeping rough than the number spotted in the snapshot.

Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker described the findings as “stark”. 

She added: “We cannot ever hope to end rough sleeping if we are not even able to assess the scope of the problem to begin with.

“The women’s rough sleeping census 2024 reveals a bleak reality: more than 10 times as many women are sleeping rough in England than government data suggests.

“This huge discrepancy underscores just how inadequate the government’s current rough sleeping snapshot is.”

For women like Nancy (not her real name), living on the streets meant keeping out of sight. She slept in car parks, sheds, abandoned cars and empty buildings to keep safe.

Nancy was working in a primary school in Barnet when a bad experience with her partner led to an arrest, a suicide attempt and a mental health breakdown.

Following a three-month hospital stay, she went into a homeless accommodation. It didn’t offer the support she desperately needed and marked the start of 10 years of sleeping rough and living in and out of 20 different unsuitable homeless shelters.

“Living on the street is like being in a dark hole. People look down on you and it’s so hard to get back up. I slept in people’s sheds, abandoned cars and buildings. When I slept in car parks, I made sure I stayed near the gates so I could hear if someone tried to open them. I’d try to find someone to stay near me so I could feel safer while I slept,” said Nancy.

“I had some horrible experiences. Caretakers have hit me with brooms and mops and even thrown water over me for sleeping in a bin shed. I was given an ASBO for sleeping on the top floor of an empty tower block. I wasn’t doing anything bad. How is that right? When someone has nowhere to go?”

Three years ago, Nancy came to Single Homeless Project’s specialist women’s centre. Today, she’s doing well and looking forward to moving into a place of her own with her own front door.

“After so many years of bad experiences at homeless hostels, I just didn’t believe in the system anymore.” she said. “When I came to Single Homeless Project, I felt like my support workers really saw me as a person. They saw what was happening then and there, not just my history. When I lost my temper, they would talk to me and reassure me they were on my side. And I grew to trust them.

“Now the wheels are in motion for me to move into my own place and I’m looking forward to having my own front door.”

Nancy’s experiences and difficulties of interacting with homelessness services that are designed for men are not unusual.

The census found more than half of the locations that women described sleeping rough in were public spaces. Just over a third of those public spaces are currently classified as ‘rough sleeping’ in traditional snapshot counts.

This suggests that 61% of women who reported sleeping rough in public spaces would not be included in official data collection and would be unlikely to receive support from outreach teams adhering to traditional definitions of rough sleeping, a report into the findings found.

A further 37% of respondents reported that they had been in some form of homelessness accommodation prior to sleeping rough, revealing how it continues to be unsuitable for women’s needs and is currently insufficient to resolve their homelessness.

The census’ organisers said the gender-informed outreach work undertaken as part of the census has been “highly successful” at identifying women who are sleeping rough.

They have called for the government to include a specific chapter on women’s homelessness as part of the cross-government homelessness strategy, which is set to be published later this year.

Single Homeless Project, Solace Women’s Aid, Crisis and Change Grow Live, the organisations behind the census report, have also called for councils to be given better data on women sleeping rough as well as greater efforts to fund safe services.

Joined-up strategies between government departments would also help, the group said, citing the upcoming government strategy on violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Authorities were also urged to invest in preventative services to limit the number of women who end up rough sleeping.

Rebecca Goshawk, director of business development Solace Women’s Aid, said: “These statistics show, once again, that data collection methods that are being used across the country just aren’t appropriate for women experiencing rough sleeping.

“We’ve seen again that over 90% of authorities that took part saw more women through the census than they did through the rough sleeping snapshot. It is not set up to recognise the experience of women and how they sleep rough.”

Goshawk added that the upcoming VAWG strategy needs to “interlink with housing” while the homelessness strategy also needs to reflect womens’ needs. 

“We really need to see that there is a more gender-informed or women-focused approach,” she told Big Issue.

“We’d really want to see an endorsement and support for the census to be rolled out nationally with government support. I think that’s really crucial and gives local authorities a better understanding and opens up funding opportunities for women.

“If women aren’t being counted, they’re not looking to open up services for them.”

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