London's homeless increase 13% in 2018

The number of homeless people in London rose by 13% in 2018 even as the total number of rough sleepers in England fell slightly.

The number of people without shelter in the capital increased from 1,137 to 1,283, while in Birmingham it went from 57 rough sleepers in 2017 to 91 and in Manchester from 94 to 123.

There were 4,677 people sleeping rough in England in autumn 2018, 74 less than in 2017, but certain regions such as London and the Midlands, north-east and Yorkshire and the Humberside recorded rises.

Nevertheless, based on councils' estimates of the number of sleepers on any single autumn night, homelessness was up by 165% since the start of the decade.

The government has pledged £100m over two years to tackle the issue and will trial schemes where people will be given housing without being required to give up addictive substances first.

Policies that have been successful in Finland will be trialed in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the West Midlands.

James Brokenshire, the communities secretary, said: “I am pleased to see our strategy to end rough sleeping, backed by a record investment of £100m, is starting to have an effect and there are particularly encouraging results in those areas funded by our rough sleeping initiative where numbers have fallen by almost a quarter.”