Homelessness accommodation provision and rough sleeping: July 2023

Background

This monthly data collection was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It covers temporary 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.

For the estimates of rough sleeping, we publish a breakdown by local authority. For data on use of accommodation, we are initially publishing data at the Wales-level only. 

Main points

Comparisons over time

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 temporary accommodation

• Throughout Wales, there were 1,535 occurrences of homeless people placed into temporary accommodation during the month, 96 fewer than in June 2023. Of these, 412 were dependent children aged under 16, 51 fewer than in June 2023.
• Of the placements into temporary accommodation during July 2023, most occurrences came from ‘Other’ circumstances (689 occurrences), followed by ‘Moved from other unsuitable accommodation’ (521 occurrences). ^{[footnote 1]}
• At 31 July 2023, 10,931 individuals were in temporary accommodation, 62 more than at 30 June 2023. 3,350 of these were dependent children aged under 16, 4 more than at 30 June 2023.
• The type of accommodation temporarily housing the most individuals at the end of July 2023 was ‘bed and breakfasts and hotels’ with 3,686 individuals, of which 989 were dependent children under 16.
• Between the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the end of July 2023, over 39,800 people who were previously homeless have been supported into emergency temporary accommodation. ^{[footnote 2]} 

Homeless individuals moved into suitable long-term accommodation

• In July 2023, 687 homeless individuals were moved into suitable long-term accommodation, 105 more than in June 2023. Of the individuals moved into suitable long-term accommodation, 275 were dependent children aged under 16, 78 more than in June 2023.

Rough sleeping

• As at 31 July 2023, there were an estimated 174 individuals sleeping rough throughout Wales. This is 1 more than the 173 individuals sleeping rough at 30 June 2023. ^{[footnote 3]}
• As at 31 July 2023, Cardiff (33), Newport (25), Pembrokeshire (24), Swansea (15) and Gwynedd (14) were the local authorities reporting the highest numbers of individuals sleeping rough. All other local authorities reported 12, or fewer, individuals sleeping rough, with five local authorities reporting zero. ^{[footnote 3]}

Planned developments

Following user feedback we are currently developing this publication which is based on management information. We are continuing to work closely with local authorities to strengthen the data collection guidance and improve data quality. 

In July 2023 we expanded the data published in the accompanying data tables 1 and 2 at a Wales level for the period April 2023 onwards:

Table 1: Number of occurrences of homeless individuals placed into temporary accommodation in the month – additionally publishing a breakdown of main reason for homelessness.

Table 2: Number of homeless individuals in temporary accommodation at the end of the month – additionally publishing a breakdown on type of temporary accommodation. 

We are working towards publishing an expanded range of data, including at the local authority level, later in 2023.  Further information about additional changes will be provided in future publications.

Ability to compare with statutory homelessness statistics and the rough sleeper count

It is important to note the following differences between this monthly management data 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 temporary 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.

In addition, we do not recommend comparisons between the rough sleeping estimates from this monthly collection and the annual rough sleeper count (up to November 2019). In this monthly collection, local authorities are asked to base their estimates on local intelligence. The annual rough sleeper count has a different methodology: a two-week information gathering exercise, followed by a one-night snapshot count.

Footnotes

[1] ‘Other’ circumstances refers to reasons other than moved off street, previously sofa surfing, moved from other unsuitable accommodation and prison leavers.

[2] This figure is calculated and not shown in the accompanying data set.

[3] Local authorities are asked to base these estimates on local intelligence, not a one-night count.