Today (Wednesday 10th December) the Westminster government has published their cross-department strategy to get the country back on track towards ending homelessness.

The strategy acknowledges the gravity of the situation and focuses on three key pledges: halving the number of long-term rough sleepers; ending the use of B&Bs for families and preventing more households from experiencing homelessness. It also includes many welcome measures to prevent homelessness, including a new target to stop people being discharged from hospital on to the streets.

This comes as research from Crisis shows that nearly 300,000 individuals and families are now experiencing the worst forms of homelessness in England alone, including sleeping on the streets, in tents, nightly paid hostels and B&Bs and on the sofas of family and friends. Government figures show there are record numbers of households in temporary accommodation, including nearly 170,000 children.

• However, this strategy does not include several measures proven to end homelessness, including:
• National expansion of Housing First, proven to be the best evidence-based solution for people sleeping rough and those with support needs.
• Measures to help people on the lowest incomes afford their rent, including unfreezing housing benefit
• Any guarantee that the social housing required to end homelessness will be built and provided to those most in need.

With the government’s long-term housing strategy expected in 2026, the charity is calling for this to strengthen efforts to end homelessness by putting housing at the heart of the solution.

Matt Downie, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “Homelessness is an intolerable injustice that prevents far too many people from realising their potential. Today’s strategy is a step in the right direction with much to be applauded, but it does have some important gaps.

“The strategy rightly recognises we all need to play a part if we’re to tackle homelessness. For too long people have been discharged from public institutions into homelessness, and so the new commitments to stop this happening as people leave hospital and prison are very welcome.

“However, to guarantee that homelessness numbers fall, this strategy needs more from other parts of government that address its root causes. Housing benefit remains frozen until at least 2030; there is no coherent approach for supporting refugees and stopping them becoming homeless; and we hear no assurances that the new homes government has pledged to build will be allocated to households experiencing homelessness at the scale required.

“We will work closely with the housing ministry to make the best of the strategy, but there is a long way to go before the government can claim to be meeting its manifesto commitment of a truly cross government strategy to end homelessness. Ministers are taking steps in the right direction — but falling short of what’s desperately needed to end Britain’s homelessness crisis.”

Notes to Editor

• The strategy is backed by £3.5bn of funding over three years, of which £3.4bn was confirmed by the Government at the Comprehensive Spending Review earlier this year.
• The Government has also made the following available in additional funding: 
• £50m in year (2025/26) top up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant for local authorities 

• • £30 million for expanded Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots  

• • £15 million Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme to trial innovative new approaches to support people furthest from services.  

• • £37 million Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund for Voluntary, Community and Faith sector organisations to help them support people off the streets and to never return.  

• • £12m three-year National Workforce Programme to provide essential training, expert housing and homelessness advice, and skills for the homelessness and rough sleeping workforce.  

• • £124 million in support services for over 2,500 people in supported housing, working with targeted local areas