Prime Minister Andy Burnham has unveiled the next phase of the Government’s ambition to end rough sleeping, announcing a £442 million package aimed at ensuring everyone who needs support is offered a route off the streets by Christmas.
Just one month after making ending rough sleeping his first instruction as Prime Minister, Burnham confirmed immediate action will be taken across England to provide emergency accommodation and support services throughout the winter. The approach builds on the successful interventions introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, when thousands of rough sleepers were brought into safe accommodation.
The programme, funded entirely through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) budget, will not only provide people with somewhere to stay but also offer practical support around housing, healthcare and other personal needs to help create lasting stability.
As part of the initiative, the Prime Minister will host a national summit this autumn, bringing together leaders from business, finance, charities, healthcare, faith groups and community organisations to identify how different sectors can contribute to ending rough sleeping once and for all.
The Government believes the initiative could deliver significant benefits for both individuals and taxpayers. Research from homelessness charity Crisis suggests that preventing 40,000 people from becoming homeless for a year could save the public purse around £370 million.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:
“No-one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station. But we’ve seen it for so long that it feels like Westminster has started to accept it.
“I won’t accept it. That’s why my first instruction as Prime Minister was to end rough sleeping. And it’s why today we’re getting started with a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas.
“We did it in the pandemic. We can do it again. But it needs all of us. Government will put the money in. But I’m asking leaders in communities and sectors across society to play their part locally too.
“Let’s get people out the cold. And let’s bring back hope.”
Alongside emergency accommodation, the funding package includes investment to deliver more than 1,000 settled homes over the next three years, coupled with intensive wraparound support designed to help individuals rebuild their lives and maintain long-term housing stability.
Areas facing the greatest levels of homelessness and rough sleeping will receive the largest share of the funding, with councils and metro mayors playing a central role in determining how support is delivered locally.
The Government has also published new guidance to help local authorities mobilise quickly ahead of winter. Particular attention has been given to ensuring services are accessible for women experiencing rough sleeping, who are often underrepresented in official figures and may face heightened risks of violence, abuse and exploitation.
The guidance encourages authorities to consider single-sex accommodation and specialist, trauma-informed support for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence, supporting the Government’s wider ambition to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said:
“When the Prime Minister pledged to end rough sleeping, we said we’d move urgently from words to action. Today we’re delivering on that promise.
“This funding will help thousands of people leave the streets behind, move into secure homes and get the support they need to rebuild their lives.
“Working alongside councils, mayors and charities, we’re backing local areas to tackle rough sleeping at its roots, giving people the security, dignity and opportunity they deserve, and restoring hope to those who have been let down for far too long.”
Recognising the role charities, faith groups and local voluntary organisations play in tackling homelessness, the Government has allocated £8.4 million to the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund.
This investment brings total funding announced for 100 homelessness projects to £47 million over three years. The funding will support small and medium-sized organisations delivering frontline services to people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.
The measures form part of a broader cross-government strategy to tackle rough sleeping through a combination of immediate intervention and longer-term housing solutions, with ministers aiming to ensure that support provided this winter becomes a foundation for lasting change rather than temporary relief.
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