The number of rough sleepers in rural areas has risen by up to 52% between 2010 and 2016, with people sleeping rough in barns, outhouses and parked cars.
A fifth of all homeless cases occurred outside of England’s most urban areas. From 2010 to 2016, “mainly rural” local authorities recorded a 32% rise in cases of homelessness. In areas that are “largely rural” there has been a leap of 52%, and an almost doubling in “urban areas with significant rural”.
The Institute for Public Policy Research warned that it is particularly hard to prevent or relieve because of the difficulties in covering larger areas and the lack of specialist resources compared to cities.
If you have found yourself sleeping rough, or if you work for a charity or organisation that works to help homeless people we’d like you to share your experiences.
You can fill in the form below and we’ll use a selection of responses in our reporting. We will keep your information as secure as possible.
