Homelessness accommodation provision and rough sleeping: October 2020

This monthly collection replaces the weekly gathering of intelligence during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

It covers emergency accommodation and provision of long term accommodation for people who present to local authorities for housing support as they are at risk of homelessness.

This data has not undergone the same level of quality assurance as official statistics and the data may be revised in future.

The figures for the latest month should be treated as provisional. Not all local authorities have been able to provide comprehensive data and this is reflected, where relevant, in the footnotes.

We are initially publishing data at the Wales-level only. We are still assessing and understanding the quality of the data being collected. In future, we will consider publishing other breakdowns where possible, including by local authority.

Ability to compare with statutory homelessness statistics

It is important to note the following differences between this new monthly collection and our existing data collections and publications on statutory homelessness.

• This monthly data relates to the number of individuals experiencing homelessness and being supported by local authorities into emergency accommodation or suitable long-term accommodation.
• Our quarterly and annual collections on statutory homelessness capture data on number of households, not individuals. That data relates to homelessness as defined by the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.

Main points

Comparisons over time

October is the first month where data on dependent children (aged under 16) in temporary accommodation has been collected separately to total individuals. Due to this, we do not recommend October data on use of accommodation is compared with previous months.

At this stage, it is important not to put too much emphasis on data for an individual month or comparisons with previous months. This monthly collection of management information and the guidance provided is continuing to be refined and improved.

Use of emergency accommodation

• Throughout Wales, 1,335 people presenting as homeless were placed into emergency accommodation during the month, of which 115 were dependent children aged under 16. (a)(b)
• At 31 October 2020, 4,735 individuals were in temporary accommodation. 1,160 of these were dependent children aged under 16. (b)(c)(d)

(a) One local authority did not include ‘homeless at home’.
(b) One local authority has reported households, not persons. Therefore, there will be a small undercount in the total figures presented.
(c) Three local authorities were unable to obtain data from women’s refuges in theirlocal authorities.
(d) One local authority was unable to supply the figure for October in time for publication. For that local authority, the figure for 31 August has been used for 31 October.

People moved into suitable long-term accommodation

• 666 homeless individuals were moved into suitable long-term accommodation, of which 177 were dependent children aged under 16. (e)

(e) One local authority has reported households, not persons. Therefore, there will be a small undercount in the total figures presented.

Rough sleeping

• At 31 October 2020, there were 112 individuals sleeping rough throughout Wales. This is a small increase on the 110 individuals sleeping rough at 30 September 2020. (f)

(f) Local authorities are asked to base this data on local intelligence, not a one-night count.