Today, however, it offers a jarring snapshot of a crisis of rapidly growing proportions in the UK: homelessness.
Every night, scores of rough sleepers take shelter in the doorways of the dozens of shops lining Europe’s busiest commercial street, lying on makeshift mattresses and using cardboard boxes or shopping trollies for some semblance of privacy.
The same scenes can be seen in parks and abandoned buildings across London, as latest data shows the rising cost of living and lack of affordable housing has forced thousands of people to the capital’s streets.
From April to June this year, there were at least 3,272 people sleeping rough in London, a 9% jump from the same period last year, according to figures from the multiagency database Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN).
Among these were 1,614 people who were on the streets for the first time, 12% higher than last year and nearly half of this year’s entire figure.
That spike, according to CHAIN, was primarily because of skyrocketing living costs and the dearth of affordable homes.
London Councils, a cross-party group representing 32 boroughs in the capital and the City of London Corporation, has termed the burgeoning homelessness crisis a “housing disaster.”
Its research shows approximately one in 50 Londoners are now homeless and living in hostels or other temporary accommodation.
The organization estimates that the figure currently stands at almost 170,000 and includes 83,500 children, which means “on average at least one child in every London classroom is homeless.”
I just want to help my family
A breakdown of the CHAIN data shows over 48% of rough sleepers in London were UK nationals, while people from European countries made up nearly 30% of the April-June figure.
Among the dozens of people living on Oxford Street is Liviu Raveica, a 26-year-old man from Romania, a country that accounted for the highest share of London rough sleepers from European countries.
He arrived in the UK less than two weeks ago with high hopes of finding a job and has no choice but to sleep on the streets.
“How do I pay the bill and the rent? I’m just begging because I need money for food,” Raveica, a father of two, told Anadolu.
He said there were at least 50 to 60 more Romanians sleeping rough on Oxford Street, with many more in other parts of London and the UK.
“This life is not easy. I don’t like to stay like this, but I just want to help my family, to bring them here, and give them another life here,” he said, stressing that a few days of work in the UK earns him as much as he would in a month in Romania.
Raveica and the other rough sleepers have to clear the area by dawn every day.
He spends most of his day at a nearby Starbucks, where he charges his phone and makes calls trying to land a job.
“Sometimes, I go to Paddington and pay £7 (nearly $9) for one shower,” he said.
Mental health crisis
The CHAIN data also delved into the support needs of the thousands living on the streets of London, showing that almost half – 49% – of them had mental health needs.
For Tommy, a 60-year-old homeless Irish man who described himself as “part of a lost generation,” mental healthcare is a “massive, enormous problem.”
Many young people, particularly those who come from poverty and unstable households, are not able to cope with the stress and anxiety of life today, he told Anadolu.
“They’re not able to look after themselves in the modern world, this so-called modern world,” said Tommy, who only gave his first name.
He blamed the Conservative government’s policies for the increasing homelessness, questioning their sincerity in addressing the spiraling issue.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities moved all homeless people to hotels because “they had to make it look like people weren’t allowed on the streets,” he said.
“Why can’t they do that all the time? If they could do that so easily back then, why can’t they do that all the time?” he added.