London Rough Sleepers Lack Heatwave Emergency Plan
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- Scientists estimated the May and June heatwaves killed 2,700 people in England and Wales, even as London endured its third heatwave of the year with outreach teams from Thames Reach and St Mungo's working "around the clock" handing out water and directing rough sleepers to cool spaces.
- Andy Burnham, in his first speech as prime minister, vowed to end rough sleeping in England "at the earliest opportunity," prompting Crisis chief executive Matt Downie to call the move "a significant shift away from expensive temporary fixes and towards a Housing First approach."
- London lacks a single city-wide temperature trigger or mandatory level of heat support — unlike its established cold-weather SWEP protocol — leaving boroughs to interpret guidance locally and creating what one charity described to the Guardian as "a bit of a postcode lottery."
- Rough sleepers face barriers beyond the heat itself: reliance on begging forces them to stay in the sun, chronic health conditions heighten vulnerability, medications like insulin are hard to store safely, and stigma about pets, luggage, or appearance blocks access to public cool spaces.
- Sadiq Khan announced the Heat Ready London plan in June, expanding access to publicly available cooling spaces and free drinking water across the capital, though a mayoral spokesperson acknowledged provision is "a collective effort" with uneven borough-level rollout.
- Crisis estimates up to 15,000 people rough sleep in London over a year; the charity's executive director Francesca Albanese called mandatory SWEP provision "the minimum" and urged more affordable housing and greater Housing First investment.
Why it matters: London's estimated 15,000 annual rough sleepers face a systemic gap: there is no mandatory heat emergency protocol equivalent to the cold-weather SWEP, so support depends entirely on individual boroughs and charity outreach capacity. Without unified provision, rough sleepers — particularly those with chronic conditions, mobility issues, and no choice but to beg in the sun — remain acutely exposed each time temperatures spike.
