The closure of the Camberwell Resettlement Centre, the largest in Europe, in September 1985, followed the closure of an estimated 2,000 common lodging houses and low cost accommodation in London between 1982 and 1984. Over a two year period only 14 out of the 25,000 who passed through the Centre had been rehoused. To aggravate the problem there had been a fall in local authority residential places in the six years up to 1982, accompanied by a decrease in the provision of home helps and meals on wheels, despite an increasing proportion of elderly in the community. of those who had utilised Camberwell Reception Centre 79% had slept rough and 19% had tuberculosis (personal communication of the staff).