Minister for Homelessness and Democracy (): We are facing a
homelessness crisis across the country, with unprecedented levels
of homelessness and a sharp increase in rough sleeping. There are
a record 123,100 households living in temporary accommodation,
including 159,380 children. The number of people sleeping rough
on our streets is rising with almost 4,000 people sleeping rough
on a single night in 2023. This didn't happen overnight, it is
the result of 14 years of neglect. This is the legacy this
government has inherited, and I am determined to address these
failures head on, but it will take time to put right and get us
back on track to ending homelessness and for good.
We are already tackling the root causes of homelessness. This
government will deliver the biggest increase in social and
affordable housebuilding in a generation, and with the Renters
Rights' Bill we will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault' evictions,
preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated
against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent
increases.
We are also taking action to support councils to deliver
homelessness and rough sleeping services. In the Autumn Budget,
we announced that funding for homelessness services is increasing
next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This
brings the total spend on homelessness and rough sleeping to
nearly £1 billion in 2025/26, a record level of funding.
Today I am setting out how we will use that funding to deliver
three important changes as the first steps in our long-term plan
to tackle homelessness.
First, we must increase our focus on prevention and stopping
households from becoming homeless in the first place. The current
system is not working, local authorities have been unable to
invest in preventative interventions. This results in more
households entering temporary accommodation, at great cost to the
individuals and the council.
I am therefore providing an uplift of £192.9 million to the
Homelessness Prevention Grant, bringing total funding for 2025/26
to £633.2 million - the largest investment in this grant since it
began. This will be allocated to all local authorities in England
based on homelessness pressures. We will require at least 49% of
this grant to be spent on activities to prevent and relieve
homelessness, including associated staff costs, to help ensure
this increase in funding is used to prevent families and single
people from reaching crisis point.
Second, we must address the growing use of Bed and Breakfast
(B&B) and nightly-let accommodation for homeless families.
The number of families living in these types of emergency
accommodation has nearly doubled in three years, with 4 in 10
homeless families living in B&B or nightly-let accommodation.
Not only do these forms of accommodation provide limited
stability for families and often lack basic facilities such as
proper cooking facilities, they are also among the most expensive
for councils. We must address this and ensure that where
homelessness cannot be prevented, temporary accommodation
provides safe, decent housing with as much stability for children
as possible. I want to see the use of emergency accommodation for
homeless families reduce and to eliminate the use of B&Bs for
families other than in genuine emergencies.
As a first step to addressing this, my department will work with
20 local authorities facing the most acute pressures for B&B
use for temporary accommodation through a new programme of
Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million to
test innovative approaches and kickstart new initiatives. My
department's team of homelessness experts will work in
partnership with pilot local authorities to identify solutions
which work for their local circumstances and share the learning
across the country.
Third, we must streamline funding structures, reduce bureaucracy
and support councils to do what they do best: deliver services to
meet the needs of their local communities. Our rough sleeping and
single homelessness programmes, including our new streamlined
Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, will provide up to
£280.75 million in funding in 2025/26, allocated to local
authorities and their delivery partners across the country to
help support them to continue vital services for some of the most
vulnerable people in society. Our sector support grants will
continue to support the skills and capacity of our valued
voluntary sector partners. Our investment in prevention will stop
people from rough sleeping in the first place, meaning local
authorities will be able to target their rough sleeping resources
at those that need help the most.
In addition, 15 local area partnerships across England will
continue to be supported through the Changing Futures Programme.
We are providing £10 million in 2025/26 to improve support and
outcomes for people experiencing multiple disadvantage.
This is only the first step to meeting our commitment to getting
the country back on track to ending homelessness. We will
continue to work across government to deliver the long-term
solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of
homelessness, including developing a long-term homelessness
strategy, which we will publish next year following the
multi-year Spending Review.
