Crisis urges the UK Government to urgently introduce its strategy for ending homelessness, addressing the shortage of truly affordable housing and significant gaps in welfare support 

Figures released today by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show that the number of households seeking support for homelessness in England was 360,050 between 2024-2025. This means nearly a thousand families and individuals are going to their councils for help every day.   

The statistics also show that a record high number of households were accepted by their councils as in need of assistance, with 330,410 households deemed as either homeless or at risk of losing their home and owed a duty from their local authority.  

The main reason why households at risk of homelessness sought assistance from their councils was because of the end of a private rented tenancy, affecting 57,190 households in total. 14% of these (8,040) had rent arrears as the cause of the end of their assured shorthold tenancy.  

The Autumn Budget announced on Wednesday 26th November did not include investment into housing benefit, a form of support designed to help people on low incomes pay their private rent. Crisis warns that this will place more people at risk of losing their homes because they cannot afford their rent, as just 2.4% of private rented properties in England are affordable for people on housing benefit according to recent Zoopla data. 

8% of households (26,660) were homeless or at risk of homelessness because they had been served a section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notice. No fault evictions are set to be abolished in May 2026, under the new Renters’ Rights Act.  

The most common reason why households were already homeless was because their family or friends were no longer willing or able to accommodate them, accounting for 30% (54,300). This includes people who were sofa surfing. For those currently homeless and whose cause was the end of a private tenancy (22,230 households), 20% experienced rent arrears (4,510 in total). 

The data on temporary accommodation is also significant, showing that as of 31st March 2025, 130,890 households were stuck living in temporary accommodation - up 11.5% on last year. Moreover, the number of households with children in temporary accommodation increased by 11.4% to 82,990. 

2,300 households with children were stuck in B&Bs for six weeks or more, despite the law stating that families should only be placed in B&Bs in case of an emergency and that this happens for no longer than six weeks.  

Responding to the figures, Francesca Albanese, Executive Director of Policy & Social Change at Crisis, said:  

“The outlook on homelessness in England remains deeply troubling, with nearly a thousand people seeking support from their councils every single day. The UK Government needs to tackle this issue as a matter of urgency. 

“We have seen some promising steps from the Westminster Government over the past year, including the Renters Rights Act becoming law, which will see the end of no-fault evictions, and £39 billion in funding for social and affordable housing in England over the next decade. 

“However, there are still far too many families and individuals without a safe place to live and councils are spending nearly £3bn a year on temporary accommodation that is often of poor quality. To deal with this, the upcoming cross-departmental strategy on homelessness must be ambitious in its approach and deliver social homes at scale to house people in desperate need as quickly as possible.  

“In order to truly end homelessness, this strategy must also prevent people from losing their homes in the first place. To do this, we urge the Chancellor to reconsider her decision to keep housing benefit frozen in yesterday’s Autumn Budget and instead restore it to cover at least the cheapest 30% of private rents in a local area. This would stop people on low incomes being pushed out of their homes.  

“By taking these bold steps, the Westminster Government can get the country back on track to ending homelessness.” 

ENDS 

Notes to editors section  

Statutory homelessness in England: financial year 2024-25 

The full dataset can be seen and downloaded here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statutory-homelessness-in-england-financial-year-2024-25  

Council spending on temporary accommodation 

Figures released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 18 September 2025 showed that between April 2024 and March 2025, local authorities spent £2.7 billion (excluding admin costs) on temporary accommodation for households who are homeless. This is up 26% on the previous year.  You can view the full data set here. 

Zoopla data on affordability 

A Crisis analysis of Zoopla listings of private rented homes showed that only 2.7% of properties were affordable at LHA rates across Great Britain and only 2.4% across England. You can read more about the data here.