Rough sleeping up by more than a quarter in West Midlands

On one night in November 2022 a total of 250 people were sleeping rough on the region's streets, up by 29 per cent on the previous year.

The figures, released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, mark the first rise in four years after a succession of decreases.

In Wolverhampton the number of rough sleepers more than doubled from five to 11, while in Dudley it rose from four to seven and Walsall's figure doubled to eight.

Birmingham saw a 26 per cent rise from 31 to 39; Stafford's figure rose from eight to 10, and there was a 14 per cent rise in Stoke, where 24 people slept on the streets.

Sandwell was the only part of the region to see a reduction in rough sleeping, with numbers falling from three to two.

Wolverhampton Council says all the people sleeping rough on the night of the count have now been supported and offered accommodation.

The authority is also launching a rough sleeper services contract to provide a link between services including street outreach and the Housing First programme.

Meanwhile a new city centre site for rough sleepers – Peter Bilson House – is set to open in the coming weeks.

The council's housing chief, Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, said nobody in the city has to sleep outside or go hungry.

He said: "While we are putting in place additional services and reenforcing work being done by partners to tackle rough sleeping in the city, we have a host of support mechanisms to help prevent homelessness in the first place."

In December Wolverhampton was awarded nearly £2m in government funding to support vulnerable people at risk of becoming homeless.

Councillor Laura Taylor-Childs, Dudley Council's housing and communities boss, said the council's homeless prevention team was focused on "keeping people off the streets" and continues to support people who are at risk of losing their home or find themselves in an emergency with nowhere to stay.

"Our outreach workers try to contact all reported rough sleepers and work with them to secure suitable accommodation," she added. "This includes regular visits or contact with people who have refused accommodation in the past in the hope they will accept an offer in the future.

"We will continue to do all we can to support people who at risk of becoming homeless or are sleeping rough."

Across England the number of rough sleepers went up by 26 per cent to 3,069.