Outreach teams saw 228 people sleeping rough in Ealing from July to September, up from 174 in spring. The council plans a winter hub for the cold snap.
Outreach teams saw 228 people sleeping rough in Ealing between July and September 2026. That is 54 more than in the previous three months, a rise of 31 per cent.
The figures come from the Greater London Authority’s CHAIN quarterly report for Ealing, published at the end of October. CHAIN is the database London’s outreach teams use to record everyone they find bedded down on the street.
Ealing Council said on 9 November that it is getting ready to open a winter hub for rough sleepers. It expects a cold snap towards the end of November.
What the new figures show
The 228 people seen in the borough over the summer break down as follows:
- 107 new rough sleepers, people outreach teams had never seen sleeping rough before. That is up from 72 in April to June and 90 a year earlier.
- 28 people living on the streets, meaning outreach teams met them repeatedly over three weeks or more. That is six fewer than a year earlier.
- 96 intermittent rough sleepers, people seen on the street before who came back.
Three people moved from the new group into the living-on-the-streets group, so they are counted once in the total.
Against the same quarter last year, Ealing’s total is up by six people, from 222. Across London as a whole, outreach teams recorded 4,678 people in the same three months, according to the GLA’s Greater London report. That was up 18 per cent on the spring but 1 per cent lower than a year earlier.
Most new rough sleepers in Ealing spent only one night out. Of the 107, outreach teams recorded 90 as having no second night on the street, about 84 per cent. The London-wide figure was 76 per cent.
Over the full year to March 2026, the CHAIN annual report for Ealing counted 642 people sleeping rough in the borough. That was down from 723 in 2024/25 and 710 in 2023/24.
Who outreach teams are meeting
The quarterly report gives a picture of the people behind the numbers:
| Measure (July to September 2026) | Number | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 195 | 86% of those whose gender was known |
| Women | 31 | 14% |
| Aged over 55 | 32 | 14% |
| UK nationals | 102 | 46% of those whose nationality was known |
| Needing support with drugs | 86 | 48% of the 180 assessed |
| Needing support with alcohol | 79 | 44% of those assessed |
| Needing mental health support | 73 | 41% of those assessed |
| Had spent time in prison | 55 | 29% of the 191 assessed |
The number of UK nationals almost doubled on the spring, from 53 to 102.
In the same three months, outreach teams and other services booked 49 people into somewhere to stay. Of those, 20 went into a hub or emergency bed and 24 into temporary accommodation. Seven moved into long-term housing, down from 16 between April and June.
The winter hub
The council’s severe weather emergency protocol, known as SWEP, opens emergency shelter when temperatures drop. It takes in people who would otherwise sleep rough “regardless of their usual eligibility for help with housing or their immigration status”, the council said.
This winter’s hub will be run with the homelessness charity St Mungo’s and local voluntary groups. It will provide overnight shelter, food, warmth and welfare support. The council has not yet said where it will be or which nights it will open.
Councillor Louise Brett, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for safe and genuinely affordable homes, said people who used the rest centre in previous years had valued “the care and compassion shown by staff and volunteers”.
“As well as offering immediate protection from the elements, it provides an opportunity for people experiencing rough sleeping to get longer-term support and a pathway to a life off the streets,” she said.
Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter also runs from late November to March, according to the council’s rough sleeping page. The shelter’s volunteer sign-up is recruiting for the 2026/27 season. The shelter lists 21 partner churches. It is not open access: its website says guests have to be referred by an agency such as St Mungo’s outreach team or Acton Homeless Concern.
Acton’s drop-in centres
Acton Homeless Concern has been running for more than 35 years. It was founded in 1989 for the large number of people then sleeping rough on Acton’s streets. It runs two free drop-in centres:
- Emmaus House, 1 Berrymead Gardens: hot lunches Monday to Friday, showers, clothes and household items, and advice on housing, benefits and health. A women and children’s group meets next door every Wednesday.
- The Damien Centre, Church Road: open on weekday mornings and afternoons for breakfast, an afternoon snack, Wi-Fi and phone charging, and a warm place to sit during the day.
Over a year, the charity’s own figures list 33,046 hot lunches at Emmaus House, 1,737 advice sessions and 4,779 volunteer hours.
Ian Breen, the centre service manager, has worked there for 18 years. He said in the council’s article: “One of the nicest things about working here is seeing people 5 years down the line and realising how far they have come.”
What it means for you
- If you see someone sleeping rough, tell StreetLink. The council passes reports to St Mungo’s outreach team, who go out to find the person. Give the exact spot, not just the street or park, when you saw them and how often, and a brief description, the council asks. In very cold weather, StreetLink is also the route into SWEP.
- If you are homeless or about to be, the council’s homeless help line is 020 8825 8888. Acton Homeless Concern is on 020 8992 5768.
- If you want to help, Acton Homeless Concern’s wishlist includes sleeping bags, men’s jeans and shoes, nappies in sizes 3 to 6, and instant coffee. It says over half its income comes from donations.
- Have your say: the council’s draft homelessness and rough sleeping strategy is out for comment until 18 December. We set out what it proposes. If you are in temporary accommodation, our page on where the council places households may help.
Have your say