Mayor launches London’s first Rough Sleeping Charter alongside more than 100 businesses, charities, faith and community groups

• Mayor launches London’s first ever Rough Sleeping Charter, designed and developed by more than 100 businesses, charities, faith and community groups
• Sadiq calls on Government to provide an emergency winter package to help rough sleepers this winter - including a £20m funding boost for emergency accommodation
• Mayor has quadrupled City Hall’s rough sleeping budget since 2016, helping more than 16,000 people off the streets, but the number of people needing help is growing as rough sleeping rises nationally

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has today launched the capital’s first ever Rough Sleeping Charter, a public commitment for Londoners to work together to end rough sleeping. More than 100 charities, faith groups, businesses and people with lived experience have helped to design and develop the charter, creating a shared purpose and vision for tackling the challenge of rough sleeping in the capital.  

The rough sleeping charter started with a small group of organisations and city government officials – the Connection at St Martin’s, Groundswell, Housing Justice, The Passage, YMCA St. Paul’s, Bloomberg Associates, the Greater London Authority and London Councils — who wanted to engage better with the community and build a bigger movement around the goal to end rough sleeping. 

At £36.3m, the GLA rough sleeping budget in 2023/24 is now more than four times the £8.45m a year it was when Sadiq took office. The Mayor’s pioneering ‘In for Good’ principle has meant, following intervention from City Hall-funded services, more than 75 per cent of those who received support were not seen sleeping rough again. More than 16,000 rough sleepers have been helped off of the streets since Sadiq was elected Mayor in 2016.

This morning, the Mayor attended an event at St John’s Church in Waterloo, to sign the charter alongside more than 40 organisations including Homeless Link, St. Mungo’s and Thames Reach, Bloomberg LP, Coutt’s Foundation, and Deliveroo. The charter is backed by the ‘Life Off the Streets’ programme, a coalition of organisations working together to end rough sleeping in London.

The Charter sets out six principles for signatories to uphold in their work including:

• Accepting that whilst people sleeping rough may have problems, they aren’t problem people
• Recognising that everyone rough sleeping is unique, and there should be meaningful options for all, regardless of immigration status
• Ensuring that people sleeping rough are safe from violence, abuse, theft and discrimination and that they have the full protection of the law

It also includes key actions that signatories commit to undertake and support:

• Acknowledging people when they talk to you or ask you for money, even if you decide you would rather not give it to them directly
• If you see someone sleeping rough who needs help, let Streetlink London know
• Volunteer, donate, or support a charity who has joined this pledge

For many the cost-of-living crisis, rising rents and benefit cuts have created the perfect storm forcing more people onto the streets. The latest ‘snapshot’ Government figures, published earlier this year, showed rough sleeping has increased in every region of England year-on-year, including in London. City Hall’s Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) data showed a 12 per cent increase in total during the period July-September 2023, compared to the previous year, with outreach teams recording 4068 individuals sleeping rough in the city.

Sadiq has warned that, in the face of rising rough sleeping nationally, Londoners cannot solve this crisis alone. Speaking this morning, the Mayor called for Government to provide an emergency winter package of support to avoid people having to sleep rough this winter, with £20m for emergency accommodation and support and an end to evictions from Home Office accommodation during the full duration of periods of extreme weather.  

The additional funding would help ensure that there is sufficient emergency accommodation and support during cold weather across the capital this winter. The Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) is activated by the Mayor when temperatures fall below 0°C and ensures councils open additional emergency accommodation for people sleeping rough. SWEP was active for 28 nights last winter and has already run for 5 days this winter. While the number of bedspaces available when SWEP is activated is higher than last year, rising demand means additional investment from Government is needed to ensure everyone gets the support they need.

The British Red Cross has previously warned that changes to Home Office policy could leave over 50,000 people across the country homeless, so an essential minimum step of banning evictions for the entire duration of periods of SWEP activation, would stop more people ending up on the street during the coldest temperatures this winter.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “We’re launching the first ever London Rough Sleeping Charter – bringing together Londoners, businesses, charities and communities to express our shared belief that there’s nothing inevitable about someone spending a night in a doorway, car or abandoned building. And that by working together we can end the scandal of rough sleeping in London.

“Homelessness is a societal illness. Witnessing people living on our streets leaves us horrified and helpless. That person we walk past has hopes and fears, just like us – they’re someone’s family, someone’s friend and they deserve dignity. We cannot – must not – stand by and allow a social catastrophe to unfold in a nation as rich as ours.

“The cost-of-living crisis and other changes in Government policy is putting more and more Londoners at risk of losing their homes and ending up with nowhere to go.

“As Mayor, I’m determined to do everything possible to end rough sleeping in the capital as we build a better London for everyone. That’s why we’re taking unprecedented and coordinated action as a city. But we also need the Government to play its part and deliver a comprehensive emergency winter package of support to help avoid those most vulnerable having to sleep in the cold this winter.”

Thanks to the Mayor’s leadership, more than 16,000 people have been assisted by City Hall-funded services to leave the streets for good since 2016. The charter will now provide a rallying point for Londoners, businesses, charities and communities to join the Mayor in efforts to end rough sleeping. In other cities, including Manchester, Leicester, Oxford, Gateshead and Leeds, the rough sleeping charter has been a catalyst for greater public awareness as well as community and business involvement in tackling rough sleeping.

Kerri Douglas - Author and Lived Experience Speaker, said: “Every person sleeping rough has a sad story to tell. To see an end to rough sleeping, we need to approach from a place of love and compassion. We all have a role to play; the services working to support people, businesses and the whole community. That's why I am supporting the London Charter to End Rough Sleeping.”

Jemma Read, Global Head of Corporate Philanthropy at Bloomberg L.P, said: "Tackling the root causes and impact of rough sleeping requires cross-sector collaboration. Our work with the Mayor of London, including the launch of the StreetLink London self-referral line, has shown how innovative approaches can help reduce homelessness. We are proud to be a signatory of this charter and support the ongoing work to tackle the issue of rough sleeping." 

Michael Chandler, CEO, Groundswell, said: “Rough sleeping is a health emergency. At Groundswell, we know all too well that people’s physical and mental health is seriously affected by rough sleeping, worsened by the weather - particularly at this time of year. Getting people off the streets saves lives.  When we speak to people with experience of sleeping rough all over London, the thing they often want to communicate strongly is how lonely it can be on the streets. Coming together to sign London’s first Rough Sleeping Charter will show people experiencing homelessness they are not alone, we are all standing together to end rough sleeping in London for good. At Groundswell we are proud to have helped bring the Charter to life and call on all Londoners to sign up today.” 

Richard James, Chief Executive, YMCA St Paul's group, said: “As a founding member of the Charter, and a charity providing a home to over 1,200 young and vulnerable people across London each night, YMCA St Paul’s Group is excited to see the Charter being launched today. At the heart of the charter is a commitment to work together to address what is an unacceptable situation whereby many young and vulnerable people lack the resources and means to have a safe place to call home. The London Charter is a way to rally us all together: individuals, organisations, businesses, local authorities, and the communities. Together across London, through the Charter, we are saying rough sleeping is all of our problem and we are going to not stigmatise those who are forced onto the streets, rather we are going to make a stand and take positive steps to make a difference” 

Carlo Mocci, Chief Business Officer, Deliveroo, said: “At Deliveroo, we strive to make a real impact in the communities in which we operate, which is why we are committing to donating meals to shelters across London when weather conditions worsen. Over the coming months, rough sleepers will bear the brunt of the cold and we hope this will play a small part in helping those who need it most. We are proud to stand alongside the Mayor of London, fellow businesses, and charities in signing this charter to tackle the challenge of rough sleeping in the capital.”