Donate to Crisis at Christmas Get help Scotland Wales Homelessness this Christmas This Christmas, more than 200,000 families and individuals in England alone will be experiencing the worst forms of homelessness. Many people already living with financial pressures made worse by the coronavirus pandemic have been pushed over the brink into homelessness and are finding themselves sleeping on the streets, hunkered down in sheds and garages, stuck in unsuitable accommodation or sofa surfing. Each year, we support thousands of people who are homeless. Crisis at Christmas The average age of death for people experiencing homelessness is 45 for men and 43 for women Homelessness is devastating, dangerous and isolating. People sleeping on the street are almost 17 times more likely to have been victims of violence. More than one in three people sleeping rough have been deliberately hit or kicked or experienced some other form of violence whilst homeless. Homeless people are over nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population. What causes homelessness? People become homeless for lots of different reasons. There are social causes of homelessness, such as a lack of affordable housing, poverty and unemployment; and life events which push people into homelessness. People are forced into homelessness when they leave prison, care or the army with no home to go to. Many women experiencing homelessness have escaped a violent or abusive relationship. Many people become homeless because they can no longer afford the rent. And for many, life events like a relationship breaking down, losing a job, mental or physical health problems, or substance misuse put people under considerable strain. Being homeless can, in turn, make many of these problems even harder to resolve. However, in nearly all cases homelessness is preventable and in every case it can be ended. Read more To find out more about the factors that contribute to homelessness please read: Benefits and employment Health and wellbeing Housing Law and rights Rough sleeping How many people are homeless? There is no national figure for how many people are homeless across the UK. This is because homelessness is recorded differently in each nation, and because many homeless people do not show up in official statistics at all. Crisis carries out an annual study in response to concerns that many people experiencing homelessness are not being accurately recorded in official statistics. Known as core homelessness, it includes rough sleeping, people living in sheds, garages and other unconventional buildings, sofa surfing, hostels and unsuitable temporary accommodation such as B&Bs. On any given night, tens of thousands of families and individuals are experiencing the worst forms of homelessness across Great Britain, this includes over 200,000 households in England alone. For the last five years’ core homelessness has been rising year on year in England, reaching a peak just before the pandemic when the numbers of homeless households jumped from 207,600 in 2018 to over 219,000 at the end of 2019. Read more The Homelessness Monitor is a longitudinal study providing an independent analysis of the homelessness impacts of recent economic and policy developments in the UK. The Homelessness Monitor Types of homelessness Rough sleeping Rough sleeping is the most visible and dangerous form of homelessness, and when most people think of a homeless person they tend to think of someone sleeping rough on the streets. The longer someone experiences rough sleeping the more likely they are to face challenges around trauma, mental health and drug misuse. Statutory homelessness Local authorities have a duty to secure a home for some groups of people. This is often referred to as the main homelessness duty. Every year, tens of thousands of people apply to their local authority for homelessness assistance. To be legally defined as homeless you must either lack a secure place in which you are entitled to live or not reasonably be able to stay. However, in order to receive assistance under the main homelessness duty, there are further strict criteria that you have to meet. Local authorities may initially provide temporary accommodation to households who might meet these criteria, mainly families with children. Hidden homelessness Many people who are not entitled to help with housing, or who don’t even approach their councils for help, aren’t counted in the official statistics. This is why Crisis carries out its annual study on core homelessness. Many stay in hostels, squats or B&Bs, in overcrowded accommodation or ‘concealed' housing, such as the floors or sofas of friends and family. At risk of homelessness Some people are more at risk of being pushed into homelessness than others. People in low paid jobs, living in poverty and poor quality or insecure housing are more likely to experience homelessness. Read more Different types of homelessness What we're doing to end homelessness We don’t think homelessness is a problem that’s too big to solve. We support homeless people all year round Our 12 Crisis Skylight centres offer support to help people find homes, gain skills and jobs through training and increase confidence through learning. We've created a plan to end homelessness We've used the best insight from home and abroad to create a plan to end homelessness for good. Campaign We work with thousands of campaigners, homeless people, allies and influencers to get the lasting change we need to end homelessness. We give the facts about homelessness Crisis is a leading source for knowledge on homelessness in the UK. Our knowledge hub has research about the causes and impact of homelessness. Improving practice Our Best Practice team supports Crisis services and external organisations to set up and develop projects to end homelessness. We support homeless people at Christmas Over 11,000 volunteers help to deliver Crisis at Christmas in Birmingham, Coventry, Edinburgh, London, Newcastle and South Wales. What you can do There are lots of ways you can support our work and help end homelessness. Campaign Help us campaign for the changes we know are needed to end homelessness for good. Fundraise Join an event, fundraise at your organisation or do your own thing. Donate Make a one-off gift, or set up a regular donation. You can also pay in money you've already raised. Volunteer By volunteering with Crisis you can make a real difference to people experiencing homelessness. Contact us Cafe from Crisis Briefings and responses search Latest news Donate Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on our work, as well as donating, fundraising, volunteering and campaigning opportunities: First name Last name Your email Submit Follow us: Manage Preferences Terms and Conditions Privacy Statement Cookie policy Accessibility Crisis UK (trading as “Crisis”) is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. Registered charity No’s : E&W1082947, SC040094. Company No: 4024938. Registered address: Crisis, 66 Commercial Street, London, E1 6LT. Tel: 0300 636 1967. We Care About Your Privacy We and our partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.Cookie Policy We and our partners process data to provide: Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. List of Partners (vendors) Reject All I Accept Show Purposes