Number of city rough sleepers rises by 63%

The number of people known to have spent a night sleeping rough in Derby has risen by 63% in one year.

Derby Homes, which runs the city's homelessness services, said at least 473 people slept on the city's streets in 2024, compared with 290 in 2023.

One shelter offering emergency accommodation says it has been dealing with increasing numbers of newly-recognised refugees, who have to leave local Home Office accommodation after their asylum claims are granted.

The figures were obtained by the BBC via a Freedom of Information request.

According to the data from Derby Homes, outreach workers identified 173 people as sleeping rough in 2022.

Safe Space, run by Derby City Mission, offers emergency accommodation for 12 people a night.

Manager Dan Land said some of the increased demand was from former asylum-seekers who become homeless when they are granted refugee status.

He said they were sometimes found sleeping rough at the railway station after being told to leave their temporary Home Office accommodation in Derby.

A spokesperson for Derby Homes said: "As with national trends, the drivers that cause people to sleep rough in Derby are unique to each individual and include many interrelated factors."

They added Derby Homes was working with the 473 people identified in 2024 to "offer shelter, support and take steps towards rehousing".

Separately, the government's annual rough sleeping snapshot recorded 14 people on the streets in Derby on a single night last autumn, down from 18 the year before.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) says the national count included around 10% who left institutions such as prison, the asylum system, hospitals, or local authority care.

In December 2024, the MHCLG announced £1bn of new funding to tackle rough sleeping across the country.

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