Homelessness, rough sleeping and temporary accommodation

We frequently receive Freedom of Information (FOI) requests regarding homelessness, rough sleeping and temporary accommodation. We have published a variety of previous FOI responses relating to these topics in our disclosure log.

Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping is one of our Strategic Priorities. For the purposes of transparency and openness, we have compiled comprehensive information regarding these common topics below.

Data

The government publishes local councils’ statistics on homelessness, rough sleeping and temporary accommodation, you can access the data online on the GOV.UK. Please note that there is a delay in the government updating this dataset by two quarters.

We also hold the following data on temporary accommodation:

Number of households in temporary accommodation per month in 2018/19

Month	Total number of households
April	103
May	101
June	113
July	122
August	131
September	135
October	128
November	118
December	125
January	118
February	114
March	113

Number of households in temporary accommodation per month in 2019/20

Month	Total number of households
April	111
May	103
June	99
July	90
August	86
September	95
October	97
November	98
December	88
January	97
February	92
March	99

Number of households in temporary accommodation per month in 2020/21

Month	Total households owed homelessness duty	Total rough sleeper initiative/discretionary	Total number of households
April	101	51	152
May	88	46	134
June	88	35	123
July	84	32	116
August	93	33	126
September	90	31	121
October	99	35	134
November	101	34	135
December	106	42	148
January	105	55	160
February	99	42	141
March	86	29	115

Number of households in temporary accommodation per month in 2021/22

Month	Total households owed homelessness duty	Total rough sleeper initiative/discretionary	Total number of households
April	141	33	174
May	148	29	177
June	156	26	182
July	161	23	184
August	167	25	192
September	176	24	200
October	180	26	206

Rough Sleeping

Under the Rough Sleeping Initiative for 2022-2025, the government has provided local councils with long-term funding to support people sleeping rough or at risk of rough sleeping. A share of £500 million was allocated to councils across England; Maidstone Borough Council was allocated £1,758,171.

Find information regarding funding allocations for the 2021-2022 Rough Sleeping Initiative on GOV.UK.

As part of the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, approximately 15,000 people across England who were sleeping rough, in unsafe communal settings or at imminent risk of rough sleeping were placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to help these people remain in accommodation, the government allocated funding to local councils under their Next Steps Accommodation Programme.

We do not use the government’s Rough Sleeping Support Service.

Homelessness due to domestic abuse

Homelessness applications are sometimes made due to domestic abuse. We publish information and advice regarding domestic abuse on our Domestic abuse page.

Anyone who is experiencing domestic abuse and approaches us as homeless has an automatic "Priority Need" under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. All cases, including those that do not meet the criteria, are recorded. The circumstances in which a case would not meet the criteria are set out in the Homelessness Code of Guidance.

Data regarding homelessness applications made due to domestic abuse is published online on GOV.UK. Please note that there is a delay in the government updating this dataset by two quarters.

We do not hold any data on destitution (poverty) due to domestic abuse.

Kent housing group

We are a member of the Kent Housing Group, which is a forum made up of all local councils in Kent and Medway, housing associations, Homes England and other housing support organisations.