People experiencing homelessness, England and Wales: Census 2021

• There were an estimated 13,955 people at hostels and temporary shelters for the homeless in Census 2021; this is only a small proportion of all people experiencing homelessness, and therefore much lower than other official estimates for this group.

• A higher proportion of people identified as homeless in Census 2021 identified within the "Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African" (15.0%), "Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups" (5.1%), or "Other ethnic group" (6.1%) high-level categories, when compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales (4.0%, 2.9%, and 2.1%, respectively).

• People identified as homeless were around eight years younger on average (median age of 32 years) than the rest of the population of England and Wales (median age of 40 years); females identified as homeless were, on average, 16 years younger (median age of 25 years compared with 41 years for the rest of the population of England and Wales).

• More than twice the percentage of people identified as homeless were disabled (44.1%) when compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales (17.5%).

• More than twice the percentage of people identified as homeless reported bad or very bad health when compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales (13.2% versus 5.2%).

• Around one in three people aged 16 years and over identified as homeless reported having no qualifications (34.5%), compared with fewer than 1 in 5 people aged 16 years and over in the rest of the population of England and Wales (18.8%).

Our data only presents a small part of the overall homeless population of England and Wales. This is because:

• hostels and temporary shelters for homeless people support only a portion of people experiencing homelessness

• people experiencing homelessness may have been in other communal establishments, such as hotels and bed and breakfasts, meaning they are not covered by these estimates; this number may have been increased during the time of Census 2021 because of the Everyone In scheme in England, an emergency measure to house people experiencing homelessness during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, described in the House of Commons' Protecting the homeless and private rented sector report (PDF, 892KB), as well as similar measures in Wales, described in a Welsh Government press release

• some people experiencing homelessness are placed in private households, so would be in the household estimates for Census 2021

• some people experiencing homelessness were staying temporarily in households (such as with family or friends), so they would be in the household estimates for Census 2021

• people sleeping outside, or in places unfit for habitation (defined as rough sleepers in GOV.UK's guidance) may have gone to shelters to fill in the census, but otherwise would not be included in these estimates

These estimates include people who were at day shelters, so may not have been staying overnight. The data do not include the staff and families of staff at these hostels or temporary shelters for homeless people.

In Census 2021, there were 13,955 people identified as homeless across England and Wales. This is much lower than other official estimates of people experiencing homelessness, but this is because they use different definitions (see GOV.UK's Homelessness statistics collection for details) and because of the reasons outlined in Section 2: Definition.

Region

The percentage of people identified as homeless was spread differently across regions of England and Wales compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales.

Figure 1: Around a quarter of people identified as homeless were in London

Percentage of people identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales, in Wales and English regions, Census 2021

Across English regions and Wales, the highest percentage of people identified as homeless was in London; 24.8% of all people identified as homeless were located in this region (3,460 people). This was 10 percentage points higher than the 14.8% of the population for England and Wales who lived in this region.

The second highest percentage of people identified as homeless by region was in the North West; 13.3% of all people identified as homeless were located in this region (1,853 people). This was 0.9 percentage points higher than the 12.4% of the rest of the population of England and Wales who lived in this region.

These differences between the English regions and Wales may partly reflect differences in housing cost, levels of economic activity, and other factors that may affect levels of homelessness. For more details, see this report by the National Audit Office (PDF, 92.5KB).

Regional differences are an important consideration when using the data in this article.  

Local authorities

The lower-tier local authority (LTLA) with the highest number of people identified as homeless was Birmingham (1,129 people), with 8.1% of all people identified as homeless. The second highest was Cardiff, with 394 people (2.8% of all people identified as homeless).

Four of the ten LTLAs with the highest numbers of people identified as homeless were London boroughs:

• Lambeth (289 people; 2.1%)

• Croydon (284 people; 2.0%)

• Waltham Forest (272 people; 1.9%)

• Southwark (218 people; 1.6%)

Of the 331 LTLAs across England and Wales, 114 showed no people identified as homeless in Census 2021. This does not mean that these areas had no people experiencing homelessness, but that no one filled out a census form at a place reported as a hostel or temporary shelter for homeless people in these areas.

Figure 2: Around two-thirds of people identified as homeless across England and Wales were male

Percentage of people identified as homeless and the rest of the population of England and Wales by sex, Census 2021

Of all people identified as homeless, around two-thirds were male and one-third were female (67.1% males compared with 32.9% females). The percentage of males identified as homeless was higher than the rest of the population of England and Wales, but lower than females (49.0% males compared with 51.0% females).

Please see our article on "Hidden" homelessness in the UK for information on how females may be missed in statistical collections.

The median age of people identified as homeless in England and Wales was eight years younger than the median age of the rest of the population of England and Wales (32 years old, compared with 40 years old, respectively).

Figure 3: Over half of people identified as homeless were between 15 and 34 years of age

Percentage of people identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales by sex and age group

Figure 3 shows that over half of females identified as homeless were aged between 15 and 29 years (54.7% of women identified as homeless). Females identified as homeless had a median age of 25 years old, which was 16 years younger than the median female age of 41 years old in the rest of the England and Wales population.

Males identified as homeless had a wider spread of ages, with 59.3% aged 15 to 39 years. Males identified as homeless had a median age of 34 years old, five years younger than the median male age of 39 years old in the rest of the England and Wales population.

Females identified as homeless had a median age nine years younger than males identified as homeless (25 years old for females, and 34 years old for males).

Of people identified as homeless, an estimated 328 (2.4%) were children aged 14 years and under.

The ethnic group question for Census 2021 had two stages. Firstly, a person identified against one of the following five high-level ethnic groups:

• "Asian, Asian British, Asian Welsh"

• "Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African"

• "Mixed or Multiple"

• "White"

• "Other ethnic group"

Secondly, they were asked to identify through one of the 19 available response options, which included categories with write-in response options. Please see our blog post for more details: How am I represented in Census 2021 data?.

High-level ethnic group

Figure 4: People identified as homeless were three times more likely to identify as “Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African” than the rest of the England and Wales population

Percentage of people identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales by high-level ethnic group, England and Wales, Census 2021

A smaller percentage of people identified as homeless in Census 2021 identified within the "White" ethnic group (67.0%), compared with 81.7% in the rest of the England and Wales population. Concurrently, a larger proportion of people identified as homeless identified within the "Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African" (15.0%), "Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups" (5.1%), or "Other ethnic group" (6.1%) high-level categories, when compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales (4.0%, 2.9%, and 2.1%, respectively). Please see the accompanying data tables for more detail.

Populations from different ethnic groups have varying age and sex distributions in England and Wales. Please see our article, Ethnic group by sex and age, England and Wales, Census 2021, for more detail.

Differences in homelessness between ethnic groups may partly reflect differences in age profiles, so take care when interpreting the results.

Please see our article, Ethnic group differences in health, employment, education and housing shown in England and Wales' Census 2021 for context.

Regional variations should also be considered when interpreting these results.

This section looks at disability and general health among those people identified as homeless based on Census 2021 data.

Disability

The Census 2021 disability question was aligned with the Equality Act (2010) definition of disability. The Equality Act defines an individual as disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Please see our article, Disability, England and Wales: Census 2021, for more information.

Figure 5: Around two in five people identified as homeless were disabled

Percentage of people identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales by disability status, England and Wales, Census 2021

This figure shows that 44.1% of people identified as homeless were disabled. This was more than double the percentage for the rest of the population of England and Wales who were disabled (17.5%).

Disability by age

Figure 6: Higher percentages of people identified as homeless were disabled in all age groups

Percentages of people identified as homeless over 16 years of age who were disabled, by age group, compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales, Census 2021

Notes:

1. Data presents percentages for those aged 16 years and over.

Across all age groups, the percentage of people identified as homeless who were disabled was much higher than for the rest of the population of England and Wales. This difference was greatest in those aged 35 to 49 years, where 52.1% of people identified as homeless were disabled, compared with 13.9% in the rest of the population for the England and Wales.

Please see our article, Disability by age, sex and deprivation, England and Wales: Census 2021, for more detail on this topic.

General health

Figure 7: More than twice the percentage of people identified as homeless reported their health as bad or very bad when compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales

Percentages of people identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales by health, England and Wales, Census 2021

Notes:

1. This graph grouped bad and very bad health together because of the small number of people identified as homeless and reporting bad or very bad health.

Good or very good health

Figure 7 shows that most people identified as homeless reported being in good or very good health (58.3%). However, this percentage was much lower than the rest of the England and Wales population (82.0%).

More than twice the percentage of people identified as homeless reported bad and very bad health (13.2%) than in the rest of the population of England and Wales (5.2%). Bad or very bad health can be an indicator of greater need for health care services.

Please see our article, General health by age, sex and deprivation, England and Wales: Census 2021, for more details.

Health and age

Figure 8: Across all age groups, a higher percentage of people identified as homeless reported their health as bad or very bad compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales

Percentage of people identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales who had bad or very bad health, by age group, England and Wales, Census 2021

Notes:

1. Data presents percentages for those aged 16 years and over.

Figure 8 shows that higher percentages of people identified as homeless reported bad or very bad health in every age group:

• 16 to 34 years

• 35 to 49 years

• 50 to 64 years

• 65 years and over

The difference was greatest in the 50 to 64 years of age group, where 26.9% of people identified as homeless. This was more than three times the percentage (8%) in the same age group in the rest of the population of England and Wales.

This adds to evidence from other analysis about health in people identified as homeless being much worse than found in the general population. For more on the health of this population, please see our bulletin, Deaths of homeless people in England and Wales.

This section looks at legal partnership status among people aged 16 years and over identified as homeless in Census 2021. Please see our article on Marriage and civil partnership status in England and Wales: Census 2021 for more detail.

Figure 9: Most people identified as homeless have never been married or in a civil partnership

Percentage of people 16 years and over identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population by legal partnership status, England and Wales, Census 2021

Notes:

1. Data presents percentages for those aged 16 years and over.

Figure 9 shows that most people identified as homeless reported never being married or registered in a civil partnership (82.8%), in contrast with 37.9% of the rest of the population of England and Wales. The percentage of people identified as homeless who were married (5.4%) was much lower than the rate in the rest of the England and Wales population (44.4%).

Figure 10: Among people identified as homeless, a higher percentage were Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Other (LGB+), compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales

Sexual orientation of people aged 16 and over, those identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population, percentages, England and Wales, Census 2021

Notes:

1. Data presents percentages for those aged 16 years and over.

Of people identified as homeless, more than double identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or "other" (LGB+) (7.7%) than in the rest of the population of England and Wales (3.2%). More people identified as homeless chose not to answer the question (13.7%) compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales (7.5%).

This adds to evidence from other sources, such as LGBTIQ+ Homelessness: A Review of the Literature, that sexual orientation is a factor in homelessness.

Please see our bulletin, Sexual orientation, England and Wales: Census 2021 for more detail on this topic.

When asked, 52.5% of people identified as homeless reported that they were in the same hostel or temporary shelter for homeless people as 12 months ago. We do not know how many of the other 47.5% were at a different hostel or temporary shelter for homeless people the year before, or how many were new to homelessness.

Census 2021 asked all people aged 16 years and over about the qualifications (including academic, vocational, and professional qualifications) that they gained in England, Wales, or worldwide. For further detail about what each level includes, please see our bulletin, Education, England and Wales: Census 2021.

Figure 11: Approximately one in three people identified as homeless had no qualifications

Percentage of people 16 years of age and over identified as homeless and rest of the population of England and Wales by highest qualification, England and Wales, Census 2021

Figure 11 shows that 12.4% of people identified as homeless had a level 4 or above qualification compared with 33.8% of the rest of the population of England and Wales. This equates to around one in nine people identified as homeless having a higher education qualification.

Higher percentages of people identified as homeless had level one and two qualifications (18.7% and 16.4%) compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales (9.6% and 13.4%, respectively).

Of people identified as homeless, 34.5% reported having no qualifications, compared with 18.2% of the rest of the population of England and Wales. This means around one in three people identified as homeless reported having no qualifications.

For information on the quality of this variable, see our Education quality information for Census 2021 methodology.

This section looks at employment status among people aged 16 years and over based on Census 2021 data.

Census 2021 was conducted during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and it is possible that this affected the way people responded. See our article, Comparing Census 2021 and Labour Force Survey estimates of the labour market, England and Wales: 13 March 2023, for further information about interpreting census labour market data.

Employment status

Data on employment status refers to 15 March to 21 March 2021, that is, the week before Census 2021.

Figure 12: The percentage of people identified as homeless who were employed was five times smaller than in the rest of the population

Percentages of people aged 16 years and over identified as homeless compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales by economic activity, England and Wales, Census 2021

Notes:

1. Data presents percentages for those aged 16 years and over.

Figure 12 shows that, among people identified as homeless, 1.9% were economically inactive because of being retired, compared with 21.7% of the rest of the population of England and Wales.

Around six times the percentage of people identified as homeless were economically inactive because of being long-term sick or disabled (25.2%) when compared with the rest of the population of England and Wales (4.2%). This contrasts with people identified as homeless having a younger average age (see Section 5: Age).

Around one in ten people identified as homeless were employed (11.6%). This was more than four times lower than the percentage employed in the rest of the England and Wales population (57.2%).

Please see our bulletin, Economic activity status, England and Wales: Census 2021.

Employment history

Those who were not in employment as of the week before Census Day were asked when they were last in employment or to indicate that they had never held paid employment.

Figure 13: Of those not in employment, people identified as homeless were more likely to have never worked across every age group when compared to the rest of the population

Percentages of people who were not in employment, by age band, of people identified as homeless who had never worked compared with the rest of the population, England and Wales, Census 2021

Notes:

1. Data presents percentages for those aged 16 years and over.
2. Data only includes people who were not in work in the week before Census day, 21 March 2021.

Of people who were not employed, across every age group (16 to 34 years, 35 to 49 years, 50 to 64 years, and 65 years and over), a larger percentage of people identified as homeless had never worked when compared with the same age group in the rest of the population of England and Wales.

This difference is largest in the 65 years and over age group, where, of people not in employment, 40.4% of people identified as homeless had never worked, compared with 15.3% in the rest of the population of England and Wales.

Please see our article, Characteristics of those not in employment as of Census Day 2021, for more detail.

The way the communal establishment question was asked in 2011 was different (please see our Communal establishment management dataset), so the figures are not comparable with 2011. The number of people identified as homeless in 2011 was much higher, at 20,868 people. Homeless Link's 2021 Annual review of support for single homeless people in England suggests that this is because hostels and temporary shelters for homeless people have been reducing in number, not because fewer people are experiencing homelessness.

Communal establishment 

A managed communal establishment is a place that provides managed full-time or part-time supervision of residential accommodation.

Examples include:

• university halls of residence and boarding schools
• care homes, hospitals, hospices, and maternity units
• hotels, guest houses, hostels and bed and breakfasts, all with residential accommodation for seven or more guests
• prisons and other secure facilities
• Single Living Accommodation (SLA) in military bases
• staff accommodation
• religious establishments

It does not include sheltered accommodation, serviced apartments, nurses' accommodation, and houses rented to students by private landlords. These are households.

Disability

People who assessed their day-to-day activities as limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses are considered disabled. This definition of a disabled person meets the harmonised standard for measuring disability and is in line with the Equality Act (2010).

Ethnic group

The ethnic group that the person completing the census feels they belong to. This could be based on their culture, family background, identity, or physical appearance.

Respondents could choose one out of 19 tick-box response categories, including write-in response options.

Economic activity

People aged 16 years and over are economically active if, between 15 March and 21 March 2021, they were:

• in employment (an employee or self-employed)

• unemployed, but looking for work and could start within two weeks

• unemployed, but waiting to start a job that had been offered and accepted

It is a measure of whether or not a person was an active participant in the labour market during this period. Economically inactive are those aged 16 years and over who did not have a job between 15 March to 21 March 2021 and had not looked for work between 22 February to 21 March 2021, or could not start work within two weeks.

The census definition differs from International Labour Organization definition used on the Labour Force Survey, so estimates are not directly comparable.

This classification splits out full-time students from those who are not full-time students when they are employed or unemployed. It is recommended to sum these together to look at all of those in employment or unemployed, or to use the four-category labour market classification, if you want to look at all of those with a particular labour market status.

Employment history

This classifies people who were not in employment on Census Day into:

• not in employment: worked in the last 12 months

• not in employment: not worked in the last 12 months

• not in employment: never worked

Highest qualification

The highest level of qualification is derived from the question asking people to indicate all qualifications held, or their nearest equivalent.

This may include foreign qualifications where they were matched to the closest UK equivalent.

Hostel or temporary shelter for homeless people

These are types of communal establishment providing services for people experiencing homelessness. This was as reported by the manager of the communal establishment on their form.

Household 

A household is defined as:

• one person living alone
• a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room, sitting room, or dining area

This includes:

• all sheltered accommodation units in an establishment (irrespective of whether there are other communal facilities)
• all people living in caravans on any type of site that is their usual residence; this will include anyone who has no other usual residence elsewhere in the UK

A household must contain at least one person whose place of usual residence is at the address. A group of short-term residents living together is not classified as a household, and neither is a group of people at an address where only visitors are staying.

Legal partnership status

Classifies a person according to their legal marital or registered civil partnership status on Census Day, 21 March 2021.

It is the same as the 2011 Census variable "Marital status" but has been updated for Census 2021 to reflect the revised Civil Partnership Act that came into force in 2019.

In Census 2021 results, "single" only refers to someone who has never been married or in a registered civil partnership.

Lower tier local authorities

Lower tier local authorities (LTLA) provide a range of local services. There are 309 LTLA in England. These are made up of 181 non-metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts and 33 London boroughs (including City of London). In Wales, there are 22 local authorities made up of 22 unitary authorities.

Statutory homelessness 

A household which the local authority has a duty to house in settled accommodation because its members are unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category, but not sleeping rough, is statutorily homeless.

Usual resident 

A usual resident is anyone who on Census Day, 21 March 2021, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

Data collection

For Census 2021, the method used to engage people at hostels or temporary shelters for the homeless was to:

• use data from Homeless Link in England, Welsh government and local authorities to find the addresses of hostels and temporary shelters (including day and night hostels)
•  the field team gave paper questionnaires with letters giving instructions, and a letter with the communal establishment managers form to every hostel and temporary shelter explaining how to respond to Census 2021
• rough sleepers, if seen by local authority homelessness teams, were encouraged to go to hostels and temporary shelters to make their return
• people could fill in the paper questionnaires or use an electronic response code to respond online, which would be linked to the return from the manager by that code, so their record would be linked to that shelter
• the returns would be processed in the normal way

Quality

This population is difficult to measure. The census achieved an estimated response rate of 76% in hostels and temporary shelters.

The final estimate of 13,955 for England and Wales is below the 32,184 available bedspaces estimated by the most comparable data source for England: the Homeless Link 2021 annual review of support for single homeless people. However, there are reasons why the census estimate would be different:

• the different methods used; the census surveys people at hostels and temporary shelters, while the Homeless Link data surveys managers of these places
• Homeless Link data looks at beds available, rather than people

Please see our methodology, Communal establishment (CE) estimation and adjustment: Census 2021, for more detail on the methods used.

Response rate

The person response rate is the number of usual residents for whom individual details were provided on a returned questionnaire, divided by the estimated usual resident population.

The general person response rate for Census 2021 was 97% of the usual resident population of England and Wales, and over 88% in all local authorities. The majority of returns (89%) were received online. The response rate exceeded our target of 94% overall and 80% in all local authorities.

Read more about question-specific and person response rates in our Measures showing the quality of Census 2021 estimates methodology.

Comparability with other sources

Our definition only includes people who were at a homeless shelter, hostel, or refuge during the census period.

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) publishes an annual Rough sleeper snapshot in England. This is performed at autumn, a different time to the census, and the population it covers is people bedding down, or about to bed down, outdoors or in an unfit structure (such as sheds). This population is not comparable with the definition we have used.

DLUHC also publishes Statutory homelessness collections. These cover households claiming homelessness relief. This includes households at risk of homelessness, as well as those already homeless. This is not a comparable source.

Welsh Government publishes Homelessness statistics. These provide data on the number of households applying to local authorities for housing assistance under the Housing Wales Act 2014 and the number of households in temporary accommodation for April 2020 to March 2021.

Homeless Link publishes an Annual survey of homeless shelter managers. This covers England only and is not an official statistic. This is not a comparable source.