Rough sleeping

This is an outreach service which focusses on rapidly responding to StreetLink referrals for people sleeping rough, and providing a consistent response across London to find people as quickly as possible when they need support.

The Night Transport Outreach team works across the London transport network and with Transport for London (TfL) to provide outreach on night buses, the Night Tube and Overground.

CHAIN is a database that holds information about people sleeping rough in London, which is provided by outreach teams and other rough sleeping services across the capital. The database is used by services as a tool to inform and record the work that they do with their clients and their outcomes.

StreetLink enables members of the public to tell specialist outreach teams about people they have seen sleeping rough, ensuring that people are linked with support as quickly as possible.

The Roma Rough Sleepers Mediator Service is a specialist service supporting people from the Roma community who are sleeping rough in London, and the organisations working with them. The service will support Roma rough sleepers to understand and access their entitlements and includes specialist immigration and employment support.

The London Navigator Team provides ‘through-care casework’ supporting people from the street, through emergency or temporary accommodation placements in to settled housing.

Sleeping rough is dangerous under any circumstances, but during severe weather the negative health effects are even more severe and can pose a risk to life. SWEP is first and foremost a humanitarian response. 

 

The Mayor’s key role is to provide guidance and make best practice policy recommendations for the delivery of SWEP, and using his resources and influence to encourage councils to adopt these ways of working 

Since winter 2018, the Mayor has been directly coordinating the activation of winter SWEP services for the whole of London, and similarly has been providing guidance for responding to hot weather since summer 2022. 

In winter: 

SWEP is short-term, temporary shelter that is provided to anyone sleeping rough, regardless of their local connections or recourse to public funds. It is activated any time that the temperature is forecast to reach 0°C or below. 

The Mayor funds a pan-London ‘overflow’ SWEP service which ensures that there are SWEP spaces available for everyone sleeping rough in London, by opening additional capacity when council SWEP spaces are full. 

• Please see the 2023-24 guidance for further information. 

Also available are reviews of the SWEP response in London during the winters of 2017-18 and 2020-21. 

In summer:

Climate change means we can now expect more regular episodes of dangerously high temperatures in London and therefore since summer 2022, the GLA, working with key partners, including London Councils, has produced guidance on protecting people sleeping rough from hot weather. 

Please see the 2024 guidance for further information.  

During periods of severe hot weather – as determined by an Amber or Red 'Heat Health Alert' by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office for London - councils activate their local hot weather emergency response based on this guidance.  

 

It is recommended that all boroughs and services supporting rough sleepers: 

• Enhance their outreach provision, to include welfare checks and risk assessments, distribution of (or signposting) to water and other resources, and advise people about ways to stay cool.  

• Ensure that people who are rough sleeping can access suitable cool spaces.

• Provide suitable accommodation for those people who are most vulnerable to the effects of heat.

NSNO is an assessment and reconnection service for people who have recently started sleeping rough. They are supported to access the service by outreach teams, and once at NSNO they spend time with specialist staff who will assess their situation and find the best options available to them. The NSNO team then develop a move-on plan with them, based on their specific circumstances and needs, and support them to take up that offer.

The Floating Hub moves around London, providing assessment and intensive support 24/7 to people sleeping rough in the host borough, quickly helping them into longer term accommodation. The hubs work in partnership with councils, other Mayoral rough sleeping services, local outreach teams and agencies such as substance misuse and health services, and allows councils to target areas where they know there is a need.

The Migrant Accommodation Pathways Support service (MAPS) supports non-UK nationals rough sleeping or at immediate risk of it across London. MAPS works to identify and clarify clients' entitlements, accommodation options, and work with other professionals to help them out of homelessness. 

To find out more, visit the MAPS website.

The ESP aims to support faith and community-based groups which provide winter night shelters in London. The ESP supports these projects by funding a number of specialist coordinator posts who work with faith and community groups to facilitate the establishment of new shelter projects across London and the further development of those which already exist. In addition to the specialist team of coordinators, the service also administers a grant programme, again with the aim of supporting and developing projects, particularly in areas such as enhanced support work and the improvement of long-term accommodation outcomes.

To find out more, visit the Housing Justice website.

Veterans Aid’s Welfare to Wellbeing initiative provides an immediate route off the street for any UK veteran in need and a bespoke, structured pathway into independent living. The service’s ‘no first night out’ philosophy means it also supports any UK veteran who is at risk of becoming homeless in London, to prevent them from having to sleep rough.

The Hub accommodates up to 40 people at a time who are currently rough sleeping anywhere in London, as well as those at immediate risk of rough sleeping who are identified by the London Youth Gateway, a coalition of youth homelessness charities. Depaul UK is the lead organisation running the service, with support workers from New Horizon Youth Centre, and immigration support delivered on-site by Cardinal Hume Centre.

The Outside Project aims to develop safe emergency accommodation for vulnerable homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people, to prevent rough sleeping. The project provides a social enterprise community centre, offering safe daytime refuge, services, and pop up businesses. The Outside Project will relocate to provide 8 bed spaces from a permanent site in autumn 2021.