London’s Skid Row: Homeless encampment of greater than 50 tents that sit simply yards from a number of the capital’s plushest houses and shames Sadiq Khan
This is the tent city slicing through the heart of London, a homeless encampment in one of the world’s richest capitals that critics say lays bare Sadiq Khan‘s failure to get a grip on the crisis.
A village of around 50 tents has sprung up on the streets of central London, earning the grim nickname Britain’s answer to America’s notorious Skid Row.
The shanty town sits across the central reservation of Euston Road, beside Warren Street Tube station, and just minutes from some of the capital’s most expensive Georgian homes in Fitzrovia.
Ironically, the site lies within Sir Keir Starmer‘s Holborn and St Pancras constituency, despite Labour pledging during the election campaign to put Britain ‘on track to ending homelessness’.
Meanwhile, London’s homelessness crisis is now at a record level, with more than 13,000 rough sleepers a year.
The encampment, made up of tarpaulin, wooden pallets and discarded newspapers, has been in place for around seven months and those staying in them have said they are routinely moved on from surrounding streets by authorities, only to return again.
They have described the situation as unacceptable, saying those living there urgently need help.
A village of around 50 tents has sprung up on the streets of central London
The shanty town sits across the central reservation of Euston Road is minutes from some of the capital’s most expensive Georgian homes in Fitzrovia
Ironically, the site lies within Sir Keir Starmer’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency, despite Labour pledging during the election campaign to put Britain ‘on track to ending homelessness’
In May, Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan launched a plan to end rough sleeping by 2030, but those living in the Warren Street camp say they feel forgotten.
Just along Tottenham Court Road the problem is equally stark. As previously revealed by the Daily Mail, a shanty town of tents are clustered close to the £200million rebuilt University College Hospital complex.
In scenes likened to the Calais ‘Jungle’, tents have been erected on pallets across two plots of private land.
The encampment is home to a mix of migrants from the Middle East, Romania and Bulgaria, but Brits have also been counted among them.
Most are men, with a handful of women, and many beg nearby. Some plots are surprisingly elaborate, featuring gazebos, tables, chairs and cooking equipment, with discarded Costa and Greggs packaging piled nearby.
One tent even had a Deliveroo-branded bike parked outside, suggesting its resident worked delivering food before sleeping rough.
Elsewhere, behind the bright lights of the West End and the Savoy Hotel, another hidden tent village has taken root. Around 30 homeless people live on the Strand, in the shadow of the £800-a-night Adelphi and a Grade II-listed building housing Vogue and GQ.
In November, ex-landscape gardener James Williams, 37, had been living in a tent for the past two months and he told the Daily Mail: ‘You get a lot of support here from people here, it’s unreal.
‘I’ve been homeless for eight or nine years but I moved here because there’s a bit more support. People seem nice. I worry for my health, I have Crohn’s [disease] and one eye. I wouldn’t be able to see properly if somebody targeted me.
‘The council needs a kick up their ass. To be honest with you, if I was a foreigner and I come over in a boat, I’d get a Ferrari and a mansion.
‘But because I’m an Englishman and I was born in this country, nobody wants to help.’
Tracy Wood, 42, is a former graphic designer born in Middlesborough who has lived at the site for the past six years.
She previously told the Daily Mail: ‘Obviously it’s not ideal, but it could always be worse.
Among those dwelling there for the past two months is 37-year-old James Williams
Tracy Wood, 42, is a former graphic designer born in Middlesborough who has lived at the site for the past six years
Colombian national Cesar Rodriguez, 49, (pictured) is living in a tent in London’s Tottenham Court Road after losing his cash-in-hand job as a cleaner
‘I moved down here when I was about 22 for work. I designed birthday and greeting cards. About five, six years ago, I lost my job. Got in a bit of a situation, couldn’t pay my rent and ended up down here.
‘I’ve got good people around me, and there’s good organisations out there that are doing the best they can do to help the homeless. There’s a fair amount of support here – that’s why I’ve stayed here.’
Colombian national Cesar Rodriguez, 49, said living in a tent here became a necessity after losing his cash-in-hand job as a cleaner.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘I love Britain and the English culture. The people are great. This is why I chose to come here 25 years ago.
‘My father was killed by criminals in Colombia at 45 and it was no longer safe for me.
‘I have been welcomed in with open arms. I have worked the whole time I’ve been here, until last year when I lost my job.’
Cesar, who used to live in Crouch Hill, north London, says living at the site is ‘miserable’ but he chose the option of ‘safety in numbers’.
In June, the mayor received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace despite a backlash at ‘reward for failure’.
The Tories have condemned the award claiming that Sir Sadiq has not managed to get a grip on violent crime in the capital.
Sir Sadiq has been Mayor since 2016, becoming the first person to win a third term in the role.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, 54, received his knighthood in June this year
Before that he was Labour MP for Tooting, serving as a junior minister under Gordon Brown’s premiership.
The knighthood for political and public service was announced in the New Year Honours, but was only formally bestowed by the King over the summer.
