How Oxford Street in London is in the grip of a homelessness crisis

How Britain’s premier shopping destination is gripped by homeless crisis: Doorways of Oxford Street stores are taken over by boxes and sleeping bags as number of rough sleepers rises

• Images taken at daybreak today show large numbers of people sleeping rough 

Harrowing photos have revealed the shocking scale of the homelessness crisis gripping Oxford Street as the number of rough sleepers rises across London.

Images taken at daybreak today show large numbers of people lying on makeshift mattresses in shop doorways, with five set up outside one menswear store alone. 

Others can be seen using cardboard boxes, umbrellas and upturned shopping trollies to try to screen off an area where they can shelter from the wind and rain.

While still considered Britain’s premier shopping destination, the twin impacts of Covid and the shift to online shopping have left Oxford Street a shadow of its former self – with a rash of empty shops and tacky American candy stores replacing household names including Topshop and Debenhams. 

The road has also been hit by London’s worsening homelessness crisis, with the number of people sleeping rough in the capital over spring and early summer up 12 per cent on the same period last year.

Photos taken early this morning show the shocking scale of homelessness on Oxford Street. Here, a Marks and Spencer store is shown in 2021 (left) and today (right)

A rough sleeper in the doorway of Three on Oxford Street this morning (right). The same spot is seen on the left several years ago 

A photo from outside a Dune store showing how rough sleepers have used carboard boxes to shelter from the elements. The same area is pictured left in an earlier photo 

Rough sleepers outside the entrance to John Lewis (right) which is also pictured left in an earlier photo 

A total of 3,272 people were recorded as sleeping rough in the capital, an increase of 9 per cent on the total figure for April-June 2022.

Outreach teams recorded 1,614 people in London sleeping rough for the first time between April and June this year, according to the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain). 

While today’s photos will be seen as fresh evidence of the capital’s homelessness crisis, they will also add to concerns about Oxford Street’s wider decline. 

READ MORE – The iconic brands that have left Oxford Street 

Brian Duffy, the chief executive of Watches of Switzerland, has called the area a ‘national embarrassment’ and said there was ‘no question that more needs to be done’ to revive it. 

Mr Duffy said: ‘Oxford Street is a problem. I would almost describe it as a bit of a national embarrassment.

‘In terms of importance, it’s probably the biggest victim of lockdown and what happened in retail, the demise of Arcadia group and department stores like Debenhams.’

Concerns have been raised about the proliferation of garish candy shops, with trading standards officers seizing more than £1million worth of fake goods including counterfeit Rolex watches.

Watches of Switzerland owns a showroom on Oxford Street across the road from department store Selfridges. 

Mr Duffy said action should be taken to bring a ‘higher standard’ of businesses to the area. On nearby Regent Street – which is owned by the Crown Estate – there has been ‘more aggressive and successful landlord behaviour’, he said. 

Although Oxford Street is still ‘hugely popular’, its range of stores is ‘not optimising the status of the street and traffic’, Mr Duffy added. 

Rough sleepers lay in their makeshift beds outside shut shops on Oxford Street at daybreak today 

The images show large numbers of people sleeping on mattresses outside shops, including this soon to be opened branch of fashion accessory brand Steve Madden 

Five people were seen lying outside just one men’s fashion store this morning 

Others could be seen using cardboard boxes, umbrellas and upturned shopping trollies to try to screen off an area where they can shelter from the wind and rain

Topshop’s flagship store near Oxford Circus station closed in early 2021 after the demise of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire. 

The House of Fraser’s department store also shut shop in January 2022 after more than a century at the location. 

READ MORE – Rishi Sunak insists the UK must ‘stick to the plan’ to cut inflation as he’s blasted by father

Some big names are set to move into the area soon – Ikea will open up at the former Topshop site while HMV will reopen its old flagship store on Oxford Street after a four-year absence later this year. 

Mr Duffy is not the first leading retail chief to lambast the state of Oxford Street. In April, Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Machin said London was losing its competitive edge to rival cities.

Mr Machin blamed a government move to axe VAT-free shopping and a ‘proliferation of tacky candy stores’. 

He said: ‘The high street which is meant to be the jewel in London’s crown today is a national embarrassment, with a proliferation of tacky candy stores, antisocial behaviour and footfall remaining in the doldrums, 11 per cent down on pre-pandemic levels.’ 

He added: ‘It pains me to see our great city like this. For too long now it has been on life support.’ 

A topless man sits in a doorway on a rainy Oxford Street early this morning 

A total of 3,272 people were recorded as sleeping rough in the capital, an increase of 9 per cent on the total figure for April-June 2022

Outreach teams recorded 1,614 people in London sleeping rough for the first time between April and June this year

Rough sleepers outside the Oxford Street branch of M&S this morning 

Oxford Street will be given a facelift in the autumn with plans to inject £100million into pedestrian access, greenery and better lighting. 

Work on the project, which is a joint effort between Westminster City Council and business group New West End Company, is expected to finish in spring 2026. 

Meanwhile, a £10million scheme aims to attract new retailers by allowing small business owners to open stores rent free and enjoy 70 per cent discounts on business rates.

The initiative is also offering the new occupants marketing help, business support and a fit-out of the new stores.

Meanwhile, Westminster City Council is working with Trading Standards on an investigation into the US-themed sweet shops amid allegations some have evaded £8million worth of business rates.

Brian Duffy, the chief executive of Watches of Switzerland, has called the state of Oxford Street a ‘national embarrassment’ 

Outreach teams recorded 1,614 people in London sleeping rough for the first time between April and June this year, according to the Combined Homelessness and Information Network 

A commuter walking by a homeless man near Oxford Street station this morning 

Oxford Street has  been hit by a wider rise in rough sleeping across London 

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