Tens of thousands of UK workers homeless this Christmas

Tens of thousands of working people in the UK are expected to be homeless this Christmas despite having a job, some even sleeping in cardboard boxes, tents, and cars, according to new research by The Salvation Army.

By analysing the latest Government figures in the four UK nations*, The Salvation Army estimates that from April 2023 to March 2024:

•    56,242 workers in the UK were registered as homeless with 32,138 of them in full-time employment and 24,104 working part-time.

•    People working full-time or part-time make up nearly a quarter of everyone registered as homeless during this period.

The Salvation Army points out that these figures are likely an underestimate as not everyone in this situation registers with their local authority. Furthermore, only the employment status of the main applicant in a household is recorded.

The church and charity, whose services include homelessness support, food banks and debt advice centres across the UK, is calling for the Government to help people on low wages afford somewhere to live by raising housing benefits so they are in line with inflation. Rent has increased by 8.4 per cent on average in the UK and by 9.8 per cent in London in the last year**. The Salvation Army has calculated that the Government’s decision to freeze the amount of local housing allowance people on low incomes receive towards the cost of rent, will leave those households with a shortfall of £100 per month***.  

The Salvation Army's Director of Homelessness Services, Nick Redmore, said: “Someone with a job becomes homeless the equivalent of every ten minutes. The person delivering your Christmas shopping, making your gingerbread latte, or cleaning up after your office Christmas party may not have a proper home to go to when they clock off.

“Our findings shatter the assumption that all anyone who is homeless needs to do is just get a job. Sky-high rents and mortgage rates combined with the rising cost of living, plus long waiting lists for council housing, mean a salary doesn’t guarantee a home. Most people earning the minimum wage are employed in sectors that are a vital part of the Christmas workforce that helps everyone enjoy the festive season, such as retail and leisure, food production and distribution, hospitality, and catering. It’s scandalous that hard-working people in the UK can't even afford a place to live.

“With homelessness continuing to rise, the Government’s planned investment in prevention and social housing is much needed. However, the decision to freeze the Local Housing Allowance is a huge financial blow to people on low incomes and already struggling to keep a roof over their heads.

“We have helped working men and women of all ages who were sleeping in cardboard boxes, tents and cars or sofa-surfing while trying to hold down a job. We pray that 2025 will be the year the Government ends homelessness for good. In the meantime, we will continue to do all we can at The Salvation Army to support the most vulnerable, including those people who have no place to call home this Christmas.”

Michael (not his real name) aged 46 from Blackpool spent five months living in a tent while doing a bar staff job. He had to rely on The Salvation Army to shower, wash his clothes and to get food.

Michael said: “There is a big misconception of people thinking those who are sleeping rough are unemployed; this simply isn’t always the case. I was working, earning a living, but I just couldn’t save the money to get a place to stay. Living in a tent you feel worthless. I kept myself hidden in the deepest parts of the park. Each morning, I would get up for work and go to do my shift, leaving everything in my tent. I’ve worked all my life, and I was still working but didn’t have anywhere to go. It was tough to accept, and I had pride.

“Working with the public it was important to dress the part and be well presented. I couldn’t let anyone know where I was living so I would go to The Salvation Army to wash and they gave me toiletries to use and towels and a hot breakfast, so I was ready for my working day, and no one would have guessed where I had slept.

“Living in a tent in a park you obviously don’t have cooking facilities so takeaways every night soon racks the costs up. As I worked within hospitality, I was sometimes able to get fed at work, but on the days that I wasn’t working it was incredibly tough. I would also accept lifts home from work if I had no money, but I would get my colleagues to drop me off on the main road, near where I used to live so they thought I was going back there. When they had driven off, I would walk to the park and back to my tent.”

Homelessness in the UK is a devolved Government issue, and The Salvation Army is calling for tailored solutions for each UK nation:

•    Across the UK, the planned Housing Benefit freeze must be reversed to ensure that those eligible for help get the support they’re entitled to and are relieved of the threat of homelessness.

•    In England, a change in the law should be introduced so local authorities deem anyone forced to sleep rough as in priority need and offer them temporary and then longer-term accommodation.

•    In Scotland, cities and regions with high levels of rough sleeping should introduce a similar recording system of the rough sleeping population as in London (CHAIN - Combined Homelessness and Information Network statistics).

•    In Wales, the CHAIN approach should be an inspiration for a bespoke Welsh system of data collection. 

*The number of workers who are homeless was estimated by analysing homelessness statistics from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland against homelessness statistics by the ONS in England, which also records employment status of those who are registered as homeless.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness. Full details of The Salvation Army’s calculations are available on request.

** Taken from ONS data on private sector rent inflation https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/privaterentandhousepricesuk/october2024

*** The Salvation Army analysis of data from Savills, 2024, and Valuations Office Agency, 2024.
https://www.savills.co.uk/insight-and-opinion/savills-news/354578-0/uk-rents-to-keep-on-rising-but-will-hit--affordability-ceiling--in-2025
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-lha-rates-applicable-from-april-2024-to-march-2025