Big increase in the number of first time rough sleepers in London

Image: Man sleeping on the street; Photograph by Blodeuwedd via Flickr

Number of rough sleepers in London rise by almost a fifth

The number of people sleeping rough in London has increased since last year, and of those estimated to be rough sleepers, the percentage who are sleeping out for the first time has also increased.

According to figures from Homeless Link, the national membership charity for organisations working directly with people who become homeless in England, between July and September 2024, 4,780 individuals were recorded sleeping rough in London, marking an 18% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

Of those, 2,343 individuals were recorded sleeping rough in London for the first time, marking a 12% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

Images: The Upper Room at St Saviour Wendell Park church in Cobbold Road, W12; some of the centre’s clientele; CEO Peter Charalambides

Peter Charalambides takes over as the new CEO of The Upper Room

Peter Charalambides has just taken over as CEO of the west London charity which supports the homeless, The Upper Room. He spoke to The Chiswick Calendar about his own background and the enormity of their task.

The Upper Room, based in St Saviour Wendell Park church in Cobbold Road, W12, supports homeless people by providing hot meals, but also by teaching them to drive. There are many who have benefitted by the programme, who have never had the money to pay for driving lessons themselves, who the charity has helped to get a job.

READ ALSO: “The Upper Room changed my life”

Peter Charalambides

Paying tribute to outgoing CEO Iain Cooper, he told The Chiswick Calendar he was grateful to be taking over a charity which was so well supported by its local community.

Peter’s background is in housing, where he is something of a poacher-turned-gamekeeper.

“I became a landlord quite young, as I inherited some money, and it gave me a leg up.”

When he finished university, he rented out his own four properties, learning about the landlord-tenant relationship, and having worked for a while at an estate agents, he set up his own property services company, looking after all the services owners and estate agents needed: providing floor plans and photographs, inventories and documentation such as electrical safety certificates.

He sold it just before Covid and, when circumstances allowed, went to work for the National Residential Landlords Association, which for him was pivotal.

“I was advising landlords about issues like charging for things at the end of a tenancy and eviction procedures, giving them advice which was legally correct, but I felt was morally questionable. It didn’t sit well with me.

“It opened my eyes to the tenants’ plight in what is an imperfect power balance. It may be illegal to put a tenant’s possessions out on the street and change the locks, but in practice it would take months, years even, to get legal redress and the tenant’s focus is on where he is going to sleep and put his stuff.

“Often the most disadvantaged people find themselves living in properties owned by the worst landlords. Tenants get a raw deal.”

Peter recommends the website indyknow.co.uk as a good place for tenants to find advice.

He went to Beam, a tech start-up company which offered homeless people help with their cv and interview practice and gave them training. What he was able to do for them and hopes to do at The Upper Room in time, was to support people who were vulnerable to becoming homeless, in their relationship with their landlord, preventing them from being made homeless.

The current Renters Bill before Parliament is well-intentioned, Peter told me, but it may prove to have unintended consequences which could make matters worse.

“Private landlords are supporting a massive lack of social housing. If you scare off these people from becoming landlords there will be even less housing available.”

After a year with Beam, Peter went to Thames Reach – “London’s biggest homeless charity you’ve never heard of,” (it does sound more like an environmental / river group) where he was an area manager for the prevention of homelessness.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Thames Reach,” he said, “their staff and their volunteers. What I learned from them was the importance of employment and skills training. Many landlords won’t take on anyone who is on benefits, so getting people into jobs has to come first.”

Images: Some of the services The Upper Room provides: hot meals, employment support and driving instruction

Digital skills the number one priority in helping people out of homelessness

I have heard people say they will not give money to a homeless person asking for money who has a mobile phone, seeing it as an expensive luxury. Peter sees a mobile phone as an essential tool to function in the modern world.

“You can’t claim Universal Credit, you can’t be on a housing allocation list, you can’t do banking without accessing the internet. A lot of GPs now rely on online systems. Digital skills are almost a human right. They are an absolute necessity.”

A lack of digital skills, being able to use a computer and access information online effectively, is a huge factor in keeping people who are homeless from getting out of their situation. Digital skills training will be his number one priority, he told me.

“Mobile phones are also essential for social interaction. The sense of loneliness when you are homeless is acute.”

Image: Volunteers at The Upper Room

The Upper Room in numbers

Here’s what The Upper Room has achieved this year, which he says is entirely due to support from the community, as they do not receive grants from the local council.

“The charity’s status in the community is due to the team. Without local support I don’t know where the charity would be. We have a lot of volunteers and without them we wouldn’t be able to provide to the level we do. It is life-affirming that people give their time to people less fortunate than they are.”

• 8,459 attendances over 242 sessions
• 33,511 meals, takeaways, and food parcels
• 1,991 toiletries distributed
• 2,448 items of clothing distributed
• 308 sleeping bags given to rough sleepers
• 446 individual travel support (Oyster cards and top-ups)
• 1,250 TFL Saver tickets
• 219 SIM cards and phone top-ups
• 86 mobile phones given
• 120 volunteers, who contributed 7,560 hours of their time

Carol Concert fundraiser

The Upper Room is holding a carol concert on Thursday 12 December at St Saviour’s Church, Cobbold Road, W12 9LN. Led by the Rev Eileen McGregor, the concert will feature the Addison Singers Chamber Choir. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

The concert is a non-ticketed event, with complementary mulled wine and mince pies, and they will be collecting donations.

If you would like to dontate now, you can do so here: theupperroom.org.uk/donate

Read more stories on The Chiswick Calendar