Local authority leaders in London have called on the Government to take action to address ‘systemic inequalities’ creating barriers to women accessing support and housing.

Launching on 9 March, a new report supported by London Councils and the GLA sets out the key findings and learnings from a first-of-its-kind census of women sleeping rough in London.

The census, entitled Making Women Count and written by social research consultancy Praxis Collab, found 154 women rough sleeping in London in a week.

The report says that women’s rough sleeping is often ‘transient, intermittent and hidden’, and so is often missing from official statistics. This means that homeless women find is hard to access support and housing.

Experiences of violence and abuse are ‘near universal’ for women who sleep rough, according to the study.

The average age of death is just 43 years old for women, even younger than their male counterparts (45). This means women experiencing homelessness are living just half as long as most women in the UK where the most common age of death for women is 89.

The report says that local authorities should be required to deliver an annual Women’s Rough Sleeping Census and report on their findings.

It also urges the Government to produce guidance to help local authorities to improve access to rough sleeping services for women.

Michelle Binfield, London Councils’ rough sleeping programme director, said: ‘Rough sleeping is particularly dangerous for women. The census is a vital tool for helping us understand the scale of the challenge and for targeting resources for successful prevention and front-line support work.’