Stats and facts

Centrepoint’s Youth Homelessness Databank is an annual piece of analysis which looks into the number of 16–24-year-olds in the UK experiencing or facing homelessness. 

This year’s report provides quantitative and qualitative data insights into youth homelessness in the UK in 2023-24. An intersectional lens is applied in this year’s analysis with insights into gender and nationality to explore how youth homelessness is experienced by different groups of young people. 

To tackle and ultimately end youth homelessness, we must improve our understanding of how many young people experience it - and what happens to them once they seek help. This project aims raise awareness of youth homelessness through open and easily accessible data, and in doing so, help communicate a more realistic image of youth homelessness than official data sources currently provide. 

Across the United Kingdom, we estimate that over 118,000 young people aged 16-24 presented to their local authority as homeless or at risk of homelessness between April 2023 and March 2024. This represents a ten per cent increase compared to the previous financial year, when 107,000 young people faced homelessness. 

Reasons for youth homelessness in 2023-2024 

1. Family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate 29,960 (50%) 
2. Domestic abuse 6,210 (10%) 
3. End of assured shorthold tenancy 4,710 (8%) 
4. Required to leave accommodation provided by Home Office as asylum support 3,360 (6%) 
5. Evicted from supported housing 2,960 (5%) 

As has been the case in previous years, the most prevalent reason for young people becoming homeless or at risk of homelessness remains family or friends no longer being willing or able to accommodate them. 

Another growing issue is the rise in domestic abuse as a cause of youth homelessness. 

The pandemic and ongoing cost-of-living crisis have further exacerbated both of these drivers of youth homelessness. 

Sarah’s journey 

Sarah became homeless at 18. She called the Centrepoint Helpline who were able to arrange an assessment with the Homeless Prevention and Relief Service (HPRS) in the North of England.  

Sarah had a serious falling out with her mum over finances. She was working as a cleaner and despite already contributing to the household budget, her mum asked her for more money or threatened to throw her out. 

Stories like Sarah’s are often heard by Centrepoint’s Helpline team.  

Sarah’s ambitions for the future are simple, as she explains, “I don’t want for much. I just want a stable comfortable life where I can make ends meet without worrying all the time.” 

She is now living in a self-contained flat and supported by Centrepoint’s Floating Support team. 

In the relief stage, which is for those already experiencing homelessness, 18,463 young women (54%) and 15,595 young men (45%) were reported as having received a duty (with the remaining 1% being unknown or other). This shows a rising number of men being assessed as having been owed support because they were already homeless – something that was also found in last year’s Databank report.  

Of the men reported as having received a homelessness assessment, 55% were provided with a relief duty and 33% a prevention duty – further emphasising the increased likelihood of men reaching out for help at crisis point. These findings point to potential differences in how young men and women experience and respond to homelessness, highlighting the need for tailored interventions targeting support at different stages in the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) timeline. 

Interviews with staff from local authorities and combined authorities show that young women, especially those with children, encounter unique difficulties when experiencing homelessness. 

One interview with a staff member from a combined authority in the North West highlighted how the absence of crucial support networks, such as childcare assistance, significantly exacerbates the already complex situation of homelessness.  

"Homelessness as a young person is particularly difficult if you don’t have those support networks […] for some of the women I spoke to, they had children and so if they were relying on child care support from the people in their support networks and that had fallen away and they were also trying to sustain and a job and they were also trying to get into a private rented property".  

- Combined authority staff member from a North West local authority 

Youth homelessness, thus, poses unique challenges for young women and/or parents, as they often face additional barriers in securing safe and stable housing due to childcare responsibilities. These vulnerabilities are further compounded by limited access to support services, increasing their risk of continuing to face homelessness. 

Nationality and youth homelessness 

The remaining number were unknown or not reported. 

Participants emphasised that young people who are refugees often experience significant barriers when seeking homelessness support. Despite presenting to local authorities, many are not deemed a priority and receive little meaningful assistance, leading to situations where they are forced into rough sleeping. 

"I don't think I've ever had someone with refugee status be considered priority need, not once." (Centrepoint Helpline staff member). 

The data reveals that UK nationals form the majority of homelessness cases, but that there is a significant minority of non-EEA and EEA nationals experiencing homelessness. Interviews and focus groups indicated that young people who are not UK nationals often constitute a notable proportion of young people reaching out for homelessness support. This may not have been reflected in the quantitative data because these groups often face distinct barriers to accessing support such as immigration status or discrimination. 

So, what can be done to tackle youth homelessness? 

Recommendations 

To get the number of young people facing homelessness, we gathered data on how many main applicants presented to their local councils across the UK.  

At present, the government in England does not publish data broken down by age, except for a combined figure for people owed a prevention or relief duty. Therefore, Centrepoint sends an FOI request to every local authority in England. This data is combined with FOI data from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and publicly available data from Scotland and Wales to build a complete picture for the United Kingdom.   

For more information about the methodology we have used and data completeness, please refer the technical appendix of the report.