The coronavirus pandemic has left hundreds of Hongkongers homeless, including more than 500 who had previously travelled back and forth across the mainland Chinese border to live and work, but were forced to return to the city by stubbornly persistent travel restrictions, an unofficial census has found.

The Hong Kong Homelessness Census 2021, a snapshot of the issue compiled by seven NGOs via an overnight headcount in early July, put the number of people in the city without a fixed residence at 1,532 – 64 per cent of whom were sleeping in the streets, with nearly a quarter staying in non-profit hostels, and 14 per cent living in temporary accommodation such as guest houses.

Releasing their findings on Tuesday, the NGOs behind the survey criticised the government’s practice of evicting homeless people from public places, including by sealing off underpasses, closing stadiums at night, sprinkling disinfectant in parks and discarding street sleepers’ personal belongings in snap clean-up operations.

A quarter of homeless respondents in a new survey lost their jobs because of the pandemic.

“This approach is ineffective,” said Olivia Chan Man-shan, of the Christian Concern for the Homeless Association. “Instead, [the homeless] will become more reluctant to seek help. Some also choose to move to remote places, which makes it more difficult for social workers to find and contact them.”

The NGOs further warned that authorities’ recent decision to mandate the use of the “Leave Home Safe” Covid-19 exposure-notification app at government buildings would discourage the poor from using public facilities, as many did not own a smartphone.

A government survey in 2018-19 recorded 1,297 homeless people in the city, though it counted only the number of people living in the streets. And despite their higher figures, the NGOs on Tuesday acknowledged their report could not account for every homeless person in the city due to manpower limitations.

A quarter of respondents in the NGO survey said they had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, though 8 per cent held tertiary degrees. A third had previously lived and worked on both sides of the border, but were forced to return to the city by months of checkpoint closures.

One street sleeper, who identified herself as Laura, said she had been working part-time in the mainland Chinese catering industry for two years before losing her job and returning to Hong Kong in September to look for job opportunities.

“I do not have money, so I need to sleep on the street … But I was very scared as a female,” the 59-year-old Hong Kong resident said.

Respondents’ median age was 58, and 16 per cent were women – a proportion twice as high as the one recorded in the previous government census.

Laura later moved to a guest house subsidised by the NGOs, but said the landlord did not allow her to be in the room from 11am to 6pm on Sundays so he could rent it out for daytime use.

A woman sleeps on a footbridge in Sai Ying Pun. The NGO survey found the proportion of female homeless people to be twice as high as a previous government survey.

Using donations to rent out guest houses for the homeless has become a last resort for the NGOs, but the groups said they worried operators would increase rents when the pandemic subsides and their occupancy rate rebounds.

The organisations on Tuesday urged the government to provide diversified emergency accommodation and transitional housing for the homeless, and to increase the supply of public housing.

While a third of respondents in the July survey held jobs with a median monthly income of HK$8,000 (US$1,029), most respondents cited Hong Kong’s soaring rents as the main reason they were homeless.

“Even though the economy and employment rate have rebounded recently, the underprivileged remain poor because they are economically vulnerable,” said Wong Hung, an associate professor at Chinese University’s department of social work who was involved in the survey.

“It’s also hard for them to seek a job again after becoming unemployed.”

Half of the people counted in the NGO survey were experiencing homelessness for the first time, with the median length of time spent without a residence stretching to 18 months.