Key facts
- London risks complacency and a decade of decline if urgent action is not taken.
- The UK is experiencing a rise in unemployment, reaching a four-year high of 5.1%.
- Over 9 million people in the UK are economically inactive.
- Rough sleeping in London has hit its highest level in a decade, with a 19% increase in the past year.
- Starts on new social rent homes have fallen significantly, exacerbating homelessness.
London faces the risk of complacency and a decade of decline if decisive action is not taken to reassert its status as a leading financial center, according to an analyst. This warning comes as the UK grapples with a rising unemployment rate, which has reached a four-year high of 5.1%, and a significant increase in economically inactive individuals.
Ashwin Prasad, the head of Tesco UK, has cautioned that the nation is "sleepwalking into a quiet epidemic" of joblessness, with millions out of work and claiming benefits. He noted a gradual shift over the past decade where people have fallen out of the workforce, urging government and business collaboration for bold changes.
Rough sleeping in London has also reached a ten-year high, with over 1,100 people on the streets. Outreach workers reported a 25% surge in new rough sleepers in the year to March 2024, and a 19% overall increase in rough sleeping compared to the previous year. This situation is exacerbated by a decline in new social housing starts, which have fallen to their lowest point since 2016.
Experts and charities have expressed deep concern over these figures, attributing the rise in homelessness to factors such as high rents, a shortage of affordable housing, and increased living costs. The failure to ban no-fault evictions has also been cited as a contributing factor.