Hackney has the lowest number of people sleeping rough in almost a decade, a report shows.

According to Hackney council, volunteers counted a total of 11 people across the whole borough to be sleeping rough during the nationwide “snapshot”.

England has been experiencing a significant drop in individuals sleeping rough on a single night in Autumn for the fourth consecutive year.

Hackney council said in their statement that despite high numbers earlier in the year, recent council initiatives, charity partnerships and the hard work of volunteers have led those numbers to be significantly lowered.

Sade Etti, Hackney Councillor and Mayoral Advisor for Homelessness, Housing Needs and Rough Sleeping, said in a statement: “More than 250 new rough sleepers were referred to our outreach team in the past year…Of those only seven have been living on the streets for more than three months.”

Hackney Council also said that all individuals were offered assistance, but some may choose not to take this for varied reasons. The rough sleeping ‘snapshot’, as the report is referred to, includes anyone sleeping in locations not designed for habitation. The data is collected nationally via volunteers combing across assigned areas and counting those spending the night in such locations. 

A parliamentary report submitted by the council in November 2020 said that the housing crisis in Hackney predates the coronavirus epidemic, and signalled to the lack of affordable housing as having a direct impact on residents. 

There are currently over 13,400 households on the Housing Register, however in reality the number of households with some level of housing need in the borough is significantly higher.

These findings were directly reflected in the numbers of those sleeping rough in Hackney. In 2020 numbers of rough sleepers had increased from 163 in April 2019, to 275 in March of 2020.

Hackney Council and their partnership charities did not respond to request for comment.