Key Summary
- The National Housing Federation to identify at least 2,000 potential homes and bedspaces, including empty properties that could be brought back into use.
- Specialist outreach teams have begun work in Coventry, and further provision are being rolled out in Plymouth and Camden over the coming weeks
- More than 30 organisations have pledged support for Burnham's plan at the first-ever Rough Sleeping Summit.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that his government would end rough sleeping by Christmas, and announced further £432 million to ensure continuity in measures to help them rebuild their lives.
The additional funding, to be set out at the Budget on Wednesday (28), will extend support beyond March 2027 and through to the end of this Parliament, taking total investment behind his commitment to £874 million.
Burnham said: “Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life. It’s a thing governments either choose to accept or don’t.
“Well I don’t accept it. That’s why we’re doubling funding so that people aren’t just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this Parliament too.
“But we can’t do it alone. If we’re going to end rough sleeping, we need every part of society behind us on this. So today we’re bringing together businesses, charities and local leaders in Downing Street to make sure this is a solution that lasts.”
Specialist outreach teams have begun work in Coventry, and further provision are being rolled out in Plymouth and Camden over the coming weeks.
The priority is to ensure that everyone who needs it is offered a route off the streets before Christmas.
The additional investment will ensure that support does not end when winter does, providing continuity for frontline services and helping people move into settled accommodation.
More than 30 organisations have pledged support for Burnham's plan at the first-ever Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street on Monday (26).
The summit brought together businesses, charities and local leaders, with major organisations pledging homes, jobs and practical support.
The National Housing Federation will work with housing associations to identify at least 2,000 potential homes and bedspaces, including empty properties that could be brought back into use.
Salvation Army will work with public-sector partners to develop social housing, modular accommodation and move-on options, including provision for people with complex needs for whom mainstream accommodation may not be suitable.
Morrisons Foundation pledging to launch the Good Food Fund, providing £500,000 in grants to support communities to tackle food insecurity where it hits hardest, including supporting charities providing relief to people who are sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness.
The NHS is currently offering free flu and pneumococcal disease vaccines for people sleeping rough or using homeless hostels or night-shelters.
According to the government, the number of people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 is 4,793, and this has exceeded the previous peak of 4,751 in 2017.
This is the fourth annual increase in a row, increasing 3% since 2024, and 171% higher than 2010 when the snapshot approach was introduced.
The rate of people sleeping rough in England has increased to 8.2 people per 100,000 in the population in 2025 from 8.0 per 100,000 in 2024, though remains lower than the peak in 2017 (8.5 per 100,000).
