Zac Goldsmith's manifesto a missed opportunity on homelessness as new figures show 10% rise in London

Following the release of Zac Goldsmith's London mayoral manifesto, homelessness charities Crisis, St Mungo's and Centrepoint have welcomed his pledge to expand No First Night Out, but would have liked greater ambition reflected in his policies.

This comes as new homelessness figures show that 5,160 households were accepted as homeless in London between October and December last year – a rise of 10% compared to the previous year.  

Crisis Chief Executive Jon Sparkes said:

“Homelessness in London rose by a shocking 10% in the last quarter of 2015. Against this backdrop, Zac Goldsmith’s manifesto is a missed opportunity to address one of the capital’s most pressing social problems. After the Budget announcement of £110m for homelessness, we were hoping for much bolder commitments, particularly in relation to affordability and Housing First.

“Mr Goldsmith has said he will take responsibility for solving homelessness in London, and we welcome his commitment to expand No First Night Out, as we called for in our Lead London Home manifesto. Likewise, he has rightly recognised how vulnerable homeless people are falling through the gaps. 

“Nevertheless, if he is serious about tackling homelessness, Mr Goldsmith will need to go much further than this, and we call upon him to tell us how he plans to use the extra funding announced in the Budget to support more ambitious plans. 

“The next Mayor of London has the power to reverse the deepening homelessness crisis in the capital, but we need bold, decisive action. This can’t come soon enough – as we have seen from these alarming figures, homelessness in the capital is reaching desperate proportions.”

St Mungo’s Chief Executive Howard Sinclair said:

“Rough sleeping is dangerous and harmful, we should prevent it at all costs. We are really pleased Mr Goldsmith has backed our recommendation to expand the No First Night Out scheme to help more people on the brink of sleeping rough.

“However, we still need a more ambitious plan and new drive to end rough sleeping in our great city. The Budget created even more opportunities for the next Mayor and local authorities to put in place the right housing and support to help people rebuild their lives away from the street for good. We look forward to hearing from all of the candidates about how they would use the funding announced last week.”

Centrepoint Chief Executive Seyi Obakin said:

“Londoners share Mr Goldsmith’s opinion that too many people are forced to sleep rough in the city, and almost three quarters want to see the next Mayor tackle this scourge.

“It’s fantastic to hear a prospective Mayor talk of taking responsibility for the most vulnerable members of society and expanding No First Night Out would be a great start. But intervention at this crisis point is not enough. The next Mayor must be ambitious about providing better prevention services, more hostel accommodation and truly affordable housing so formerly homeless people have the opportunity to fully turn their lives around.”