Shocking study finds 11 children died from homelessness in UK last year

The Museum of Homelessness, which conducted the study, said its research suggested at least 1,611 deaths in 2024 could be put down to homelessness.

This was up from 1,474 deaths in 2023 and 1,313 deaths in 2022.

According to research by the Museum of Homelessness, there were 11 children, aged younger than 18, included in the data for last year, of which four were babies who had not yet reached their first birthday.

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Four others were aged between one and nine years old, and two children were aged between 15 and 17, while another’s age was unknown.

The researchers said it is likely these figures are lower than the true scale of child deaths and homelessness, as some local authorities might only record when the person who has applied to their local council for homelessness help dies in temporary accommodation, rather than all the members of their family.

The number of children who died in 2024 was up from four in 2023.

The most recent Government figures, published in July, showed the number of households in temporary accommodation in England had climbed to a new record high of 131,140 at the end of March 2025.

The number of children in temporary accommodation stood at 169,050 in March, up year on year from 151,540 and also the highest since records began in 1998.

In January, a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Households in Temporary Accommodation said a total of 74 children, mostly babies, had died in recent years in England, with temporary accommodation recorded as a possible contributory factor.

Fifty-eight of those who died between April 2019 and March last year were aged under one, the APPG said.

In each of the 74 deaths, temporary accommodation – considered a form of homelessness – was listed as a contributing factor to their vulnerability, ill-health, or death.

The Museum of Homelessness said overall, 44% of all the deaths in their data were drug and alcohol-related.

Across the UK’s four nations, there were 1,142 deaths in England, 211 in Northern Ireland, 168 in Scotland and 90 in Wales.

Total deaths in Scotland and Wales fell year-on-year, but Northern Ireland and England both had increases.

The biggest rises were in the South West, East Midlands and the East of England, the researchers said.

Project director, Matthew Turtle, said their data “shows how homeless people continue to be deeply failed”.

“We are calling for urgent action from the Government to alleviate this crisis”

Gill Taylor, also from the project, said: “With heavy hearts, we report the deaths of 1,611 people who died whilst homeless in 2024.

“Whilst it is positive that local authorities and safeguarding adult boards appear to be taking the issue more seriously, with better reporting and evidence of improved local partnership working to prevent deaths, turning the tide on this enormous loss of life needs more than better counting.

“We remember with love all those who died and continue our work in solidarity with bereaved loved ones and the homeless community.”

The Government has been contacted for comment.