Hundreds of homeless people spend Christmas in hotels across London

Hundreds of homeless people who would otherwise sleep on the streets of the capital will spend Christmas in hotels.

The charity Crisis has opened its Christmas services, providing beds for at least 450 homeless people in three hotels across London for over two weeks.

Guests have their own room, company and three hot meals a day, while a crisis worker provides support and helps develop a plan to exit homelessness.

Two of the hotels will be open from December 20 to January 5, and a third will remain open for a further three weeks to provide more intensive care for people with complex needs.

Last year, three quarters of the people the charity supported with its hotel services did not return to the streets.

In addition, four day centres for up to 4,800 people in precarious housing situations are to be opened in the capital between 24 and 28 December.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, told the PA news agency: “It is vital that people have somewhere safe and that we get them off the streets as quickly as possible and in as many numbers as possible in winter because it is really dangerous to be on the streets.”

“That is why we are opening hotels, but also running day centres for thousands of other people, so that people’s journey out of homelessness can begin at Christmas, but not end there.

“Homelessness is the real culmination of the cost of living crisis. Rents are spiralling out of control and people are finding it increasingly difficult to afford them. At the same time, housing benefit has been frozen for the past three years.

“This is a truly deeply troubling time and we are seeing more and more people coming to us asking for help.”