UK

Number of households (000s)

Not comparable due to substantial differences in legislation across each of the nations.

Data is no longer collected for Wales due to change in legislation. More detail on comparability can be found on the GSS’s interactive tool: https://gss.civilservice.gov.uk/tools/GSS-Homelessness-Interactive-Tool/. And in the ONS article https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/ukhomelessness/2005to2018. For more details on the source for each country, please see additional information in 'more details.' below.

UK

Number of households (000s)

Not comparable due to legislative differences

In Scotland, the declining trend can possibly be explained by the introduction of Housing Options services in 2010 in Scottish local authorities, with a focus on prevention. We are exploring the inclusion of other statistics on assessments and duties, and of alternative ways of visualising the data. See the full metadata for more details on comparability and on statistics reported for each country.

UK

Number of households (000s)

Not comparable due to different methodologies or different time periods reported.

England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Greater London report counts, while England and Scotland report a number of people experiencing street homelessness at time of homeless application. It is recommended to explore the GSS homelessness statistics interactive tool which explains how to compare counts and applications based data appropriately: https://gss.civilservice.gov.uk/dashboard/tools/homelessness-statistics/theme-home.html‍

England

Percentage

n/a

We are exploring the existence of similar data in the other countries.

UK

Percentage (%)

Not comparable between England and Scotland due to question and category differences.

N/A

UK

Number of households (000s), Percentage(%)

For the overall data (i.e. without dependent children or equivalent), these are more comparable than the data with dependent children or equivalent.

For the overall data (i.e. without dependent children or equivalent), these are more comparable than the data with dependent children or equivalent. However, the overall recommendation is to NOT compare data due to the following reasons (quoted from the following report: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/ukhomelessness/2005to2018#temporary-accommodation):"Legislative differences across the UK as to whether priority need is taken into account for temporary accommodation influences the ability to compare data, particularly for households with dependent or expected children." AND "Overall, differences in reporting time frames, such as snapshot data or placements over time, and reporting categories, such as types of accommodation and length of stay, are key challenges to making direct and robust comparisons between UK temporary accommodation data."