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I don't know about SE1 specifically, but the trend in London and nationally is, not surprisingly, upwards. It fluctuates throughout the year and people move around for a variety of reasons. There are official counts that are pretty reliable and they tend to coincide with what people see.
There is also a worrying trend of families taking up services aimed at rough sleepers because they are skint and living in food poverty. There is also a noticeable trend in casual labourers sleeping rough or in hostels - we see young men (Lithuanians seem to be prominent where we are) turning up in high-vis vests.
I'll drop you a line.
Markyboy-
There is also a noticeable trend in casual labourers sleeping rough or in hostels
Hasn't this been a thing for quite a while (~ ten years) and mostly by choice? Young men who come to work and minimise living costs while they are here. Remember reading that some of the EU rough sleepers who were wrongly deported were here active and working.
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This is purely anecdotal but I believe evidence of a wider problem.
I live in Blackheath, by the heath itself. When I take our dog for a walk in Greenwich Park I walk past a row of parking spaces in a particularly secluded part of the heath.
Every morning there are maybe three or four people getting dressed into suits or work uniforms after spending the night sleeping in their cars. I've also seen somebody emerge from a tent wearing a suit. Over the last two years, i've noticed more and more people doing it. Sometimes it is familiar faces, sometimes not.
Makes me wonder if there are a fair few employed and professionals who are finding themselves homeless.
hoefla
Stonehedge
@Markyboy Just reading Markyboy's posts from page 2138. Impressed with your commitment dude. Possibly anecdotal but I feel like I've noticed a real increase in rough sleepers in SE1 the last year or so. I'd like to do something practical to help out is possible.