News / News Wire
Homelessness doubles in Bristol
The number of people sleeping rough in Bristol has more than doubled, making the city second only to Westminster in London for homelessness.
Government estimates taken in autumn 2015 showed about 97 people were sleeping on the streets, up from 41 the previous year.
The figures came at the end of Bristol’s Homelessness Awareness Week and the day before the mayor was due to join an annual sponsored sleep-out on Friday night at Pip ’n’ Jay church near Castle Park.
The data also comes as the city faces an increasingly acute housing crisis, with rents rising faster than anywhere else in the country and house prices also continuing to rise.
Since the rough sleepers estimate was made in autumn, the mayor has helped make available 35 extra emergency beds.
Nick Hooper, the council’s housing director said 10 more being prepared in empty council buildings which will be opened up following a petition signed by over 10,000 people.
“Rough sleeping is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to homelessness,” Hooper sad. “This is not a Bristol-specific issue, with numbers rising in cities across the country.”
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