Rachel Woolf from Street Storage

ROUGH sleepers being asked to move on from their sleeping site has increased this year, a charity that stores homeless people’s belongings said.

Street Storage told the New Journal it had seen “an increase in move-on referrals” – where people have been asked to leave where they are living, and ask Street Storage if they can store their stuff there.

Founder Rachel Woolf said: “We’re seeing it much more in Camden, City of London and Westminster. Out of the last five what we call ‘move-on’ referrals we have had, three were from Westminster and two were from Camden.

“We don’t do borough analysis but we know roughly where these move-on referrals come from based on transport we’ve offered to people, or more often through an analysis of where people are calling in from. We have 500 to 700 referrals a year. We just know there has been an increase in the past six to eight months.

“We track the reason for someone’s referral, and we’ve seen an 8 to 10 per cent increase in ‘move-on’ being the reason for someone’s referral. Where before we would see one or two people referred in this way, we are now seeing far more than that.”

She added that they had also seen a big rise over the past year in the number of women fleeing domestic abuse, and trans and non-binary people, who have asked the charity to store their belongings.

There has been a noticeable increase in people sleeping in tents across the borough, especially in Tottenham Court Road, and with it a rise in businesses, private security, police and the council asking people to pack up and leave.

Ms Woolf said: “There’s a huge stigma around tents. I’ve heard horrible things like ‘they’re eyesores’. The reality is the problem is not the tents themselves but the system that has allowed this to happen.

“Around 20 per cent of the people we see living in tents and storing with us are working full or part-time. We see people bring work tools, documents, ashes of family members to our doors for God’s sake.

“Asking someone to move doesn’t solve anything, it moves the perceived ‘problem’ somewhere else. It’s like councils and businesses pass the buck but removes the focus on the person as a human being who is being moved like they’re rubbish.

“It displaces communities of people who find solidarity, who may feel more secure in a certain area. I think there’s a lack of awareness of the trauma that move-ons can have on an individual.

“I understand there are different concerns from different sectors in society and some of them are valid but moving what they are considering a ‘problem’ to another place does not solve the ‘problem’.”

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We are clear that no one should be sleeping rough, and everyone should have a place to call home.

“Our dedicated rough sleeping service works across the borough supporting rough sleepers. Individuals may be moved on for their safety or the safety of others, and when this happens we will always ensure that everyone receives support to access housing options.

“Our rough sleeping and homelessness services also provide tailored welfare, housing, and employment support to help people on their journey towards independent living.”