Prisoners released into homelessness surges 82% in two years

In the past two years we have seen a rise of 82% in the number of people coming out of prison homeless – the highest number since record keeping began five years ago. MOJ data released last week showed we are now seeing more than 1,000 people a month come out of prison homeless, a 39% rise in the past year alone.

There are a number of reasons for this dramatic increase. Firstly, it’s important to note that over the past two years we have also seen an increase in the total number of people being released from prison, as the current and previous governments sought to deal with the prison capacity crisis. However, the number of people leaving prison has only increased by 38% in the last two years, so proportionally the increase in the number coming out homeless is much greater.

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