National rough sleeper count: November 2018

Two week exercise

Local authorities estimated that 347 persons were sleeping rough across Wales in the 2 weeks between 15th and 28th October 2018. This is an increase of less than 1% (2 persons) compared with the exercise in October 2017 with trends varying across authorities.

One night snapshot

Local authorities reported 158 individuals observed sleeping rough across Wales between 10pm on the 8th and 5am on 9th November 2018. This was a decrease of a 16% (30 persons) on the previous year mainly due to large decreases in authorities such as Wrexham and Ceredigion. Some authorities recorded an increase.

Emergency bed spaces

Local authorities reported 184 emergency bed spaces across Wales. Of these, 33 (18%) were unoccupied and available on the night of the snapshot count.

Note

The count carried out in November 2018 in Wales is essentially a snapshot estimate. It can only provide a very broad indication of rough sleeping levels on the night of the count. There are a range of factors which can impact on single-night counts of rough sleepers, including location, timing and weather. On 8/9 November 2018 severe weather was recorded across Wales including flooding in some areas.

The information presented in this release covers the rough sleeper monitoring exercise carried out across Wales during October and November 2018. It is based on the data provided by local authorities.

This release does not include any information on statutory homelessness. Statutory homelessness covers actions taken by local authorities to prevent or relieve homelessness under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.