Nearly 50% rise in Tower Hamlets rough sleepers in the last decade, Government data reveals

A 45% rise in Tower Hamlets rough sleepers since 2014/15 is made up primarily of people who have never been seen sleeping rough before.

The number of people seen sleeping rough in Tower Hamlets has risen by nearly 50% since 2014/15, according to Government-backed data, with non-EU rough sleepers rising at four times that rate.

Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) data shows a jump from 377 rough sleepers 10 years ago, up 45% to 546 in 2024/25.

In the last year, most of this increase has been fuelled by over 300 people who had never been seen sleeping rough before 2024/25. 

This rise was also driven by people from outside the EU. The number of non-EU rough sleepers seen has risen by almost 200%. However, if they are excluded from the data, rough sleeping in Tower Hamlets has grown by just 20% over the last decade. 

The data also suggests that the most common short-term reason people CHAIN interviewed in 2024/25 were on the streets was a positive asylum decision from the Home Office. 

Refugees granted asylum typically have a 28-day ‘move on’ period before they are evicted from Home Office accommodation (although longer periods have been trialled, and specific groups like pregnant women and families are allowed 56 days). 

Of the people asked, 22% said their last settled base in the UK was refugee accommodation, from which they were presumably evicted after the Home Office granted them asylum.

Rough sleeping is a subcategory of homelessness. While homelessness can be defined as any lack of a permanent, safe home, rough sleeping means sleeping on the streets or anywhere not intended for human habitation.

Tower Hamlets is not alone in seeing increased rough sleeping, which has been surging throughout the capital. London-wide, 2024/25 was the worst year for rough sleeping in the last decade, 75% higher than in 2014/15. 

Like Tower Hamlets, a large proportion of the London-wide rough sleeping surge is made up of non-EU rough sleepers. However, in Tower Hamlets, their role is more pronounced. Over the last five years, non-EU rough sleeping has increased by over 200% in the borough, whereas in London as a whole, it has risen by about 80%. 

If you liked this, read Homes and Homelessness: Photographs capture 100 years of living conditions in Tower Hamlets