Homelessness - who are they and where are they found?

N.B. There is an easy read version at the bottom of this post (shorter and in bullet points) along with an infographic and translations

So I image that like me, if you're thinking of a homeless person right now, you're probably thinking of a male huddled up on a high street somewhere with their sleeping bag.  And these people do exist.  But they are not the only homeless people (nor even the main homeless group) nor is it the only form of homelessness.

So in terms of homeless groups, there are of course the rough sleepers that everyone sees and is aware of.  But in fact this is one of the smaller groups.  There are also a great many people experiencing temporary or emergency accommodation, and yet more people experiencing hidden homelessness (sofa surfing, sleeping in cars/sheds, living in a squat etc...).  When I was homeless, I was a sofa surfer, so part of the hidden homeless.

Who becomes homeless? I think many peoples perception is that it's people taking drugs, the uneducated, and generally people who have made bad choices in life who are homeless.  Sadly, it is not that straight forward.  Some of the main reasons include poverty (due to lack of social housing and in-affordable rents), abuse, discrimination (against people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, race etc...), and being a refugee, prison leaver, care leaver, or having just left the armed forces.  These all make people more susceptible to becoming homeless.  

What I find absolutely astounding is these figures - 1 in 153 people living in England today are currently homeless (and this is broadly just counting the rough sleepers). 1 in 153!  We might not interact with that many people in a day, but during the day we will see sight of 153 people and then some.  So by that reckoning, statistically speaking, at least one of those people is sleeping rough.  What a world.  To really bring that home - in both Manchester and Birmingham that rate is 1 in 61 (remember these are mainly just the rough sleepers).  Then in London the rate is 1 in 45 with the worst district, Newham, being as high as 1 in 18!  It's insane.

I think I've said everything there.

References

Housing Justice (n.d.) Different types of homelessness. Available at: https://housingjustice.org.uk/resources-cymru/different-types-of-homelessness (Accessed: 13 July 2026).

Shelter (2025) Explore our new interactive map of homelessness in England. Available at: https://england.shelter.org.uk/what_we_do/updates_insights_and_impact/interactive_homelessness_map (Accessed: 13 July 2026)

Shelter (n.d.) What causes homelessness? Available at: https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/campaigns/what_causes_homelessness (Accessed: 13 July 2026).

Easy Read

- Types of homelessness include rough sleepers (actually a small proportion), those in temporary/emergency accommodation, and the hidden homeless (e.g. sofa surfers, squatters...) 

- People that become homeless can come from all walks of life

- Things that make people more vulnerable include poverty, abuse, discrimination, being a refugee, a prison leaver, a care leaver, or having just left the armed forces.

- Some quite shocking figures (mainly just for rough sleepers) include 1 in 153 people in England homeless; 1 in 61 in Birmingham and Manchester homeless; 1 in 45 in London homeless; and 1 in 18 in Newham homeless!

Mandarin Chinese

• Wu jia de lei xing bao kuo lu su zhe (qi shi zhi zhan hen xiao yi bu fen), zhu zai lin shi huo jin ji zhu su zhong de ren, yi ji "yin xing wu jia zhe" (li ru zhu zai peng you jia sha fa shang de ren, zhan yong kong wu de ren deng)。

• Bian cheng wu jia zhe de ren ke yi lai zi ge ge jie ceng he ge zhong ren sheng jing li。

• Rang yi ge ren geng rong yi xian ru wu jia zhuang tai de yin su bao kuo pin kun, nue dai, qi shi, zuo wei nan min, gang gang chu yu jian de ren, zeng jing you guo zheng fu zhao hu de ren, huo zhe gang gang li kai jun dui de ren。

• Yi xie xiang dang ling ren zhen jing de shu ju (zhu yao shi zhen dui lu su zhe) bao kuo: Ying guo mei 153 ge ren zhong, jiu you 1 ge wu jia; Birmingham he Manchester mei 61 ge ren zhong, jiu you 1 ge wu jia; London mei 45 ge ren zhong, jiu you 1 ge wu jia; er Newham geng shi mei 18 ge ren zhong jiu you 1 ge wu jia!

Hindi

• Beghar hone ke types mein rough sleepers (jo asal mein ek chhota sa hissa hain), temporary ya emergency accommodation mein rehne wale log, aur hidden homeless log (jaise sofa surfers, squatters, aadi) shamil hain.

• Jo log beghar ho jaate hain, woh samaaj ke kisi bhi varg aur zindagi ke kisi bhi background se aa sakte hain.

• Kuch cheezen logon ko beghar hone ke liye zyada vulnerable bana deti hain, jinmein gareebi, abuse, discrimination, refugee hona, jail se riha hona, care system se bahar aana, ya abhi-abhi armed forces chhodna shamil hain.

• Kuch kaafi chaunkane wale aankde (zyadatar rough sleepers ke liye) hain: England mein har 153 logon mein se 1 vyakti beghar hai; Birmingham aur Manchester mein har 61 logon mein se 1 beghar hai; London mein har 45 logon mein se 1 beghar hai; aur Newham mein har 18 logon mein se 1 beghar hai!

Spanish

• Entre los tipos de sinhogarismo se encuentran las personas que duermen en la calle (que en realidad representan una pequeña proporción), las personas que viven en alojamientos temporales o de emergencia y las personas sin hogar ocultas (por ejemplo, quienes duermen en el sofá de amigos o familiares, quienes ocupan viviendas vacías, etc.).

• Las personas que se quedan sin hogar pueden proceder de cualquier ámbito de la vida y de cualquier grupo social.

• Algunos factores que hacen que las personas sean más vulnerables incluyen la pobreza, el abuso, la discriminación, ser refugiado, salir de prisión, haber estado bajo tutela del Estado o haber dejado recientemente las fuerzas armadas.

• Algunas cifras bastante impactantes (principalmente referidas a las personas que duermen en la calle) incluyen: 1 de cada 153 personas en Inglaterra está sin hogar; 1 de cada 61 en Birmingham y Manchester está sin hogar; 1 de cada 45 en Londres está sin hogar; ¡y 1 de cada 18 en Newham está sin hogar!