The United Kingdom is facing a harrowing and deepening crisis as the number of homeless deaths has soared to a record high, with 1,611 people dying in 2024 alone—including 11 children. This figure, released by the Museum of Homelessness and widely reported by outlets such as BBC and Sky News, marks a 9% increase from the previous year’s tally of 1,474 deaths, and a staggering 23% jump from 1,313 deaths recorded in 2022. The grim statistics lay bare the escalating toll of the UK’s housing and social care emergency, which is now claiming more lives than ever before.
Behind these numbers are stories of tragedy, neglect, and systemic failure. Of the 11 children who lost their lives in 2024, four were babies who had not yet reached their first birthday. The remaining children ranged in age from one to nine, with two teenagers between 15 and 17, and one whose age remains unknown. According to The Independent, the number of child deaths in 2024 was nearly triple the count from the previous year, when just four children were recorded among the dead. The Museum of Homelessness, which has led the Dying Homeless Project since 2017, cautions that these figures likely understate the true scale of the tragedy, as many deaths go unrecorded or unclassified due to gaps in official data.
“Every loss of a life, especially the death of a child, is an abject failure that cannot be tolerated,” said Alison McGovern MP, the government’s homelessness minister, in a statement on October 8, 2025, as quoted by BBC and Sky News. She described the figures as “heartbreaking” and emphasized, “We simply cannot accept this as normal. Every person deserves a safe place to call home, which is why we are accelerating efforts to tackle the root causes of homelessness, expanding access to safe accommodation whilst also strengthening support services.”
The human stories behind the numbers are sobering. In one case, reported by The Independent, Barnaby Spicer, a man with a history of psychosis, died in November 2024 just weeks after being released from the Redwoods Centre, an NHS mental health facility in Shrewsbury. His family had warned the mental health trust about their concerns for his safety, but he was discharged without a community treatment order that would have ensured ongoing supervision. The NHS trust has since launched an internal inquiry into his care. In another incident, a man was found dead in a tent outside an Asda supermarket in Leicester, while yet another, Alexander Colman, died inside his makeshift tent home in the Fletchers Hill Inclosure, Rhinefield. Perhaps most distressing, Khaled Aribi, an Algerian asylum seeker in Camden, London, reportedly starved to death in July 2024 after becoming trapped while trying to enter a house through a skylight. He had been on a waiting list for counselling and was considered highly vulnerable; his death was ruled accidental by a coroner.
The Museum of Homelessness’s data, compiled from coroner’s courts, media reports, family testimonies, and Freedom of Information requests, reveals that the majority of deaths—over half—were classified as “deaths of despair,” including suicide and drug or alcohol-related fatalities. Substances like spice and nitazines have become increasingly deadly, as noted by BBC. In 2024, 44% of deaths were specifically attributed to drugs and alcohol. The gender gap is stark: three-quarters of those who died were men.
Geographically, the crisis is widespread. England accounted for 1,142 deaths in 2024, a 16% rise from the previous year, with London recording the highest total. Yet, the largest increases were seen in Nottingham, where deaths doubled to 22, and Exeter, where they more than doubled from eight to 21. Northern Ireland saw deaths climb by over a third to 211, while Scotland experienced an 18% decrease to 168, and Wales saw a modest drop to 90 deaths. The Museum of Homelessness points out that their methodology does not use estimates, making these numbers especially stark.
The crisis is compounded by the rising number of people living in temporary accommodation. As of March 2025, government figures showed a record 131,140 households in temporary accommodation in England. Even more alarming, the number of children in such housing reached 169,050, the highest since records began in 1998. According to a Sky News investigation, some children are spending more than five years in temporary housing, a situation that experts warn can have devastating long-term impacts on their development and well-being.
Temporary accommodation is not just a stopgap; it can be a death sentence. Over the past three years, the proportion of deaths occurring in temporary or supported accommodation—including hotels, bed and breakfasts, and hostels—has outpaced the rise in the number of households living in these settings. According to BBC, two-thirds of all homeless deaths now occur in such accommodation, while 169 people died while rough sleeping. The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Households in Temporary Accommodation reported in January 2025 that 74 children, mostly babies, had died in recent years in England, with temporary accommodation cited as a possible contributing factor.
Experts and charities are sounding the alarm. Rick Henderson, chief executive of Homeless Link, called the rising death toll “tragic and unacceptable,” warning, “Not only are more people losing their home, but a growing number of these people are already facing unmet health and social care needs, which only worsen once homeless.” Francesca Albanese, from the charity Crisis, stressed the need for more social housing and an urgent unfreezing of housing benefits to prevent further destitution. “We are talking here about real people, including children – not just numbers. These are lives cut short and potential unrealised. In many cases, these deaths will have been avoidable,” she said, as reported by The Independent.
Matthew Turtle, project director at the Museum of Homelessness, echoed these calls for urgent government action. “Our data shows how homeless people continue to be deeply failed,” he stated, underscoring the need for a comprehensive response from policymakers. Experts have welcomed Labour’s recent pledge to build 180,000 homes for social rent over the next decade and the party’s commitment of £1 billion to councils to address homelessness. However, many argue that consistent, multi-year funding and bold policy changes are still lacking, especially as leadership on homelessness has been perceived as fragmented following recent ministerial changes.
For families who have lost loved ones, the crisis is more than a policy issue—it’s a personal tragedy. Debby Wakeham, whose son Richard Sanders died in a homeless hostel in south London, described the anguish of learning about his death days after it occurred and the lack of communication from the hostel. “I’m livid,” she said, as quoted by BBC. “I wouldn’t even know now [he’d died] if I hadn’t continued to ring.”
As the UK grapples with record levels of homelessness and an unprecedented number of deaths, the sense of urgency among advocates, families, and officials is palpable. The numbers are not just statistics—they represent lives lost, families shattered, and a society struggling to protect its most vulnerable members. The call for urgent action has never been more pressing.
