Strategy, facts and figures
Homelessness Strategy
The Homelessness Act 2002 requires each local authority in England to publish a homelessness strategy and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities states that authorities must make their homelessness strategy available to any member of the public. Legislation and guidance is clear on how a homelessness strategy should be developed.
This Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023-27 sets out the City of London Corporation’s vision, approach and commitment to tackle homelessness in the Square Mile in all its forms. It defines the outcomes we will deliver, and these will shape our decision making, service design, partnerships and resourcing.
Temporary Accommodation Allocations Policy
This provides a framework for the fair allocation of temporary accommodation provided by the City of London Corporation under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996.
The City of London commissioned independent researcher Becky Rice, BR Research and Sarah Hough, Groundswell to produce City Voices: Learning from the response to rough sleeping in the City of London during COVID-19 report. This report presents the findings of an independent, rapid research project about the City of London’s work to help people rough sleeping to access accommodation off the streets during the Covid-19 response between March and November 2020.
The aim of the research was to capture learning and insight from this unique period and to help inform the future of services in the City of London. The research focused on people who have slept rough for long periods and may be resistant to traditional routes off the street, or who have found that existing services do not meet their needs.
The research was largely qualitative. Interviews were undertaken with 19 people who had been accommodated during the Covid-19 response and nine professionals who worked on the Covid-19 response to rough sleeping.
This research demonstrates the success of City of London’s response to Covid-19 for people who faced many barriers to moving off the streets and extreme challenges in their lives. The research includes important recommendations for the City of London to consider when designing and delivering existing and new services for those who have experienced sleeping rough.
Each local authority in England has to return quarterly homelessness statistics to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, called the H-CLIC quarterly return. Statistics for all local authorities, including the City of London can be found on the GOV UK website:
You can find statistics specific to London on the GLA Datastore website:
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities also compiles statistics on estimated and actual numbers of rough sleepers in each local authority area. These can be found on the GOV UK website:
You can find statistics specific to London on the GLA Datastore website: