A London museum that records the deaths of the UK’s homeless people has criticised several South West London councils for failing to disclose important data.
The Museum of Homelessness made requests for every local authority in the country to inform them how many people in their area had died while homeless for its landmark annual survey, with its large-scale findings reported on by national outlets like BBC News.
However, most of South West London went unrecorded, as Richmond-upon-Thames, Hounslow, Wandsworth, and Sutton Councils among others did not disclose data to the Freedom of Information requests by the museum, leaving an area of over a million people unrepresented.
Matthew Turtle, founder and co-director of the Museum of Homelessness, said: “We were shocked and saddened to see that a significant number of West and South West boroughs not reporting in to the project despite having many months to do so.
“This means that we were unable to remember and memorialise people in our community in some of London’s most significant boroughs.
“It is a mandatory requirement for all local authorities to record and report on all homeless deaths occurring in their area, as well as implementing Homelessness Fatality Reviews to learn lessons that prevent future deaths.
“The fact that these councils are not doing so needs addressing.”
Almost all other boroughs of London responded to the Museum’s requests, which is a statutory obligation.
When asked in March 2025, Hounslow, Wandsworth, and Richmond-upon-Thames Councils did not respond in the six months before publication of the survey, while Sutton Council reportedly described their data as being held in a “non-reportable format.”
A ministerial directive from 2024 instructs councils to keep a detailed record of the deaths of homeless people in their borough.
Richmond-upon-Thames, Hounslow, Wandsworth and Sutton Councils were all reached out to for comment.
Since then, three of the four councils have disclosed the data that was previously missing from the survey, allowing the Museum of Homelessness to have a greater picture of the situation in London.
Wandsworth Council, for example, has now revealed that a young person died in supported accommodation in 2024, while Sutton Council maintains that their data is not able to be reported.
Overall, the situation in London has worsened with a 5% increase in the number of people dying while homeless in the capital, according to the Museum of Homelessness’ annual survey.
While commemorating World Homeless Day last Friday, the government announced a cash injection of £84 million for the UK to tackle growing rates of homelessness, just under half of which will go to London.
London Councils have this month warned of a crisis in the capital, with over £5.5 million each day being spent on homelessness, the vast majority of which is spent on temporary housing.
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