To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the total numbers of homeless individuals in (a) England, (b) Greater London, (c) outer London and (d) inner London in each year from 1980–81 to 1991–92.
The available information is on the numbers of households for whom local authorities accepted responsibility for securing permanent accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 and the Housing Act 1985. Estimates of the total number of persons in these households are not available centrally.
| Year | England | Greater London | Inner London1 | Outer London |
| 1980 | 60,400 | 17,100 | 9,820 | 7,280 |
| 1981 | 66,990 | 18,010 | 10,080 | 7,930 |
| 1982 | 71,620 | 20,630 | 11,880 | 8,750 |
| 1983 | 75,470 | 23,620 | 12,590 | 11,030 |
| 1984 | 80,500 | 24,740 | 15,330 | 9,410 |
| 1985 | 91,010 | 27,070 | 16,600 | 10,470 |
| 1986 | 100,490 | 29,380 | 18,160 | 11,220 |
| 1987 | 109,170 | 29,220 | 18,390 | 10,380 |
| 1988 | 113,770 | 28,880 | 16,680 | 12,200 |
| 1989 | 122,180 | 33,020 | 20,290 | 12,730 |
| 1990 | 140,350 | 36,480 | 21,890 | 14,590 |
| 21991 | 110,740 | 29,310 | 17,920 | 11,390 |
1 Inner London comprises City of London, Camden, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth and Westminster. | ||||
2 First 3 quarters only |
A new reporting system was introduced for the non-metropolitan districts from the fourth quarter 1980 and for London and other metropolitan authorities from the third quarter 1982 and figures for 1980 to 1982 are not strictly comparable with those for later periods. From the second quarter 1991 the definition of acceptance was altered to exclude intentionally homeless and all earlier figures have been adjusted to the new basis.