At least 895,000 people are homeless in European Union and to United Kingdomaccording to calculations published today in a report by the European Federation of Organizations working with the homeless (Feantsa), a number higher than in 2019.

“This assessment – based on fragmentary data and which represents only the most visible forms of housing exclusion – confirms the failure of European states to make housing a fundamental right,” says the report, which was co-authored with the French Abbé Pierre Foundation.

To determine the number of homeless people, the authors of the report studied homelessness censuses taken in each country, where these were available.

Adding the measurements of 13 countries, whose data were deemed sufficiently reliable and comparable with each other, the authors concluded that 0.174% of the European population lives on the streets or in emergency accommodation.

In relation to the total homeless population in the EU and the UK, it stands at around 895,000 across all 28 countries.

That number is nearly 200,000 more than the number of homeless people in 2019, the last year in which the Feantsa proceeded to estimate the number.

“This calculation gives an approximate idea of ​​the minimum extent of the phenomenon, but it is not a method for determining the real number of homeless and poorly housed people in Europe,” the authors of the report stress.

Among the countries studied, some recorded a reduced number of homeless people, such as Finland, which has invested heavily in housing construction and implements a “Housing First” policy to provide housing to the homeless.

Austria, which also has this policy, also saw the number of homeless people fall in 2020, the latest year for which figures are available, but this may be due to emergency measures taken during the pandemic, such as suspending of rental evictions, note the authors of the report.

“All member states urgently need to design and develop national strategies to end homelessness,” said Feantsa, who also calls on the European Commission to strengthen its policies to tackle the problem of homelessness.