Burnham doubles homelessness funding in drive to end rough sleeping by Christmas
Andy Burnham is to double spending on ending rough sleeping to almost £900m by the end of the current parliament, adding £432m to existing homelessness budgets, ahead of a Downing Street summit on Monday.
Burnham doubles homelessness funding in drive to end rough sleeping by Christmas
How the funding adds up
The drive to end rough sleeping by Christmas now rests on a doubled budget. Andy Burnham is to increase spending on ending rough sleeping to almost £900m by the end of the current parliament, a commitment announced ahead of a Downing Street summit on Monday that will bring together charities, businesses and local leaders.
The money comes in two parts:
- An initial £442m from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government budgets that will be allocated to the problem before March 2027.
- A further £432m added on top of that, taking the total towards the £900m figure.
Burnham said ending rough sleeping requires every part of society behind the effort, which is why the Downing Street meeting draws in businesses, charities and local leaders.
A safe route off the streets this winter
According to Burnham, the funding means people are not just offered a safe route off the streets this winter, but have the same support right through the rest of this parliament. The pledge sits alongside the prime minister's stated aim to offer every rough sleeper in England a safe route off the streets or wider support, described as a central part of his premiership.
"Rough sleeping isn't a fact of life. It's a thing governments either choose to accept or don't."
Burnham has also argued that ending rough sleeping nationally is only possible if all areas pull in the same direction, and said that is what this funding is designed to achieve.
Where provision stands now
With two months to the deadline, the operational picture is taking shape in a handful of areas:
- Specialist outreach teams and new accommodation spaces are operating in Coventry, with further provision planned in Plymouth and Camden in the coming weeks.
- Housing associations, working with the National Housing Federation, are drawing up a pipeline of at least 2,000 homes and bed spaces, empty properties among them.
- Virgin Media O2 will provide practical digital support to frontline organisations.
- For people who have slept rough, St Mungo's and Haircuts4Homeless are joining forces with L'Oréal to set up hair salons and wellbeing provision.
Reaction from ministers, charities and critics
Housing secretary Angela Rayner called it a big ambition, saying the government will "not back down from making sure everyone has the offer of a route off the streets this Christmas".
"The first step is giving people a roof over their head and freedom from the nightly struggle to find somewhere safe to sleep."
The charity Shelter welcomed the announcement. Acting CEO Mairi MacRae said the funding demonstrated that the government sees a safe home as a necessity rather than a privilege.
The announcement builds on Burnham's record as mayor of Greater Manchester, where he introduced the A Bed Every Night scheme offering emergency accommodation. Rough sleeper numbers there fell and then rose again; Burnham previously explained the rise by saying Greater Manchester was the only place providing that level of support and, understandably, people travelled there to access it.
Criticism has come from shadow housing secretary Katie Lam, who accused Burnham of throwing another £432m at a problem he failed to solve in Greater Manchester, saying rough sleeping has hit record highs under Labour. Ahead of that week's budget, Lam said chancellor John Healey should use it to cut taxes for working people, to keep the benefits bill under control and to stop pushing up energy prices.
The Downing Street summit on Monday, bringing together charities, businesses and local leaders, is the next step in the drive to end rough sleeping by Christmas.
