Writing in the British Medical Journal, Mark Fransham and Danny Dorling of the University of Oxford have warned of the serious health implications of sleeping rough. The recent rise in homelessness has its roots in welfare reform and the housing market, almost entirely accounted for by an increase in families losing their privately-rented housing, experts have said. The number of people officially recorded as sleeping on the streets of England rose from 1,768 in 2010 to 4,751 in 2017, but charities estimate the true figure to be more than double this.
