Beyond poor living conditions: London’s tent campsites

As the homelessness crisis sharpens in London, the number of tents encampments around the city has increased. Last year, in response to the growing complaints of fellow citizens, the UK’s councils tore down around 254 camps in all Britain -triple the amount of camps cleared in 2014.

In an attempt to better understand the living conditions of these rough sleepers, I approached the campsite located in the surroundings of the Tottenham Court Road’s Underground Station.

I have come every weekend since the beginnings of December, without any luck finding the campers. Currently, there are fewer tents, although the clutter has grown significantly.

I stayed on site for over an hour, hoping someone would come, but no one did. For the first time, I sensed an unpleasant smell, a mixture of wet clothes and damp cardboard. Walking through the main area, I also found what I thought were dog faeces just by a pile of clothes.

Pigeons were all over the place, frenetically eating crumbs from the floor and peeking into a few bags with food left near the tents. Overall, things were quite messy, trash to be seen anywhere; there were clothes on top of rubbish and vice-versa.

There is no access to a water source, nor to a toilet; their shelter lets rain pass through and it is not enough to stop cold weather. These people’s living conditions are wrecked; saddening, it does not feel like a campsite, it feels like a dumpster.