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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.
Stonehedge-
The last year or so has seen an increase in rough sleeping in outer-London boroughs that are traditionally less well equipped to cope with it, but I've no idea about professionals sleeping in cars, etc. It wouldn't surprise me.
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Working homeless is increasingly an issue, I've been volunteering locally to you this year, and wouldn't want to put a figure on it but a large number of the night shelter service users have jobs, which was a total shock to me and shows the scale of the problem.
If you fancy helping locally they are desperate for volunteers at the moment.
Markyboy
mustardbeak
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.