Major funding to tackle homelessness as record numbers stuck in temporary accommodation

Thousands of people at risk of homelessness will be supported by a £84 million funding boost this winter.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said it was a "moral stain on our society" that so many people were left sleeping rough or stuck in squalid temporary accommodation.

Charities welcomed the "much needed" cash but warned that the long-awaited homelessness strategy must be more than a sticking plaster approach.

Nearly £70million will go towards helping to prevent rough sleeping, with cash for sustainable accommodation and specialist physical and mental health support.

Children and families living in temporary accommodation will also get help to cover essentials like food, school travel and laundry through a £11million funding top up.

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And there will be £3 million targeted at helping people with drug and alcohol abuse issues who are sleeping rough.

It comes as record numbers of families are stuck in temporary accommodation, including nearly 170,000 children.

The most recent Government figures, published in July, showed the number of households in temporary accommodation in England had climbed to a new record high of 131,140 at the end of March 2025.

The number of children in temporary accommodation stood at 169,050 in March, up year on year from 151,540 and also the highest since records began in 1998.

The Museum of Homelessness reported at least 1,611 deaths of homeless people in 2024, including 11 children.

Housing Secretary, Steve Reed said: “Homelessness is a moral stain on our society.

"Growing numbers of people have been abandoned to sleep rough on the streets and children left in squalid, overcrowded conditions.

“This Government will not stand idly by and allow that to continue."

Homelessness charity St Mungo's said the funding is "much-needed" but said there must be a proper plan to address the homelessness crisis.

Big Issue founder Lord John Bird said: "This is not an investment to end rough sleeping.

"For that we need the kind of measures and support that offers more than a roof over your head, but a full support service which treats the reasons why people fall homeless in the first place.

"The long-promised homelessness strategy must invest in this, rather than just reapplying faltering sticking plasters."

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