The new funding will include nearly £70m for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant to help 62 local authorities prevent people sleeping rough and help them stay off the streets.
A further £11m will go to help families living in temporary accommodation with access to essential facilities such as Wi-Fi, food and leisure activities, laundry and travel passes for school and uniform costs to keep kids in school. The cash will go to 61 areas with the highest numbers of children in temporary accommodation.
There will also be a £3m increase to support rough sleepers with drug and alcohol services across 83 local authorities and a pan-London project.
A further uplift of £200,000 for the Voluntary, Community and Frontline Sector Grant will support faith and community-led initiatives such as night shelters to reduce the number of people experiencing repeat homelessness.
Areas with the highest pressures will be in line to receive additional funding to tackle homelessness this year.
London, which accounts for a significant proportion of homelessness across England, is set to receive £36.5m in funding with the remaining split across the rest of the country.
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Homelessness minister Alison McGovern said: “You can’t have a decent life without a decent home. Whether it’s rough sleeping or sofa surfing or, at its worst, children stuck in B&Bs, homelessness in the UK has been too high for too long.
“This has to stop. Through our Plan for Change, the UK will build homes and get help to those who need it to put a roof over their head.
“We’re providing extra cash now to address a crisis made over the past decade. Both the government’s £39bn to build social and affordable homes and the child poverty strategy to come will tackle the root causes of this problem, but we need action now to stop homelessness getting any worse.”
Labour has, so far, been unable to prevent rising homelessness across England, although the most recent statutory homelessness statistics do show signs of improvement.
The 83,450 households needing council support for homelessness between January and March 2025 was lower than the record-high period in 2024.
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The number of households with children living in B&Bs – considered the worst form of emergency accommodation – has continued to fall from 5,910 in June 2024 to 3,870 by March 2025.
Ministers hope that the Renters’ Rights Bill will reduce the number of renters facing homelessness when it comes into force next year while there are long-term, cross-government strategies expected on child poverty, homelessness and housing.
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Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “This funding is very welcome, especially as winter approaches and with homelessness rising. More people are likely to face the prospect of sleeping on cold streets and need support urgently. More parents will be working out how to help their children do homework from cramped and draughty temporary accommodation.
“We hope this announcement marks another step towards an ambitious homelessness strategy. Alongside a concerted effort to build social housing at scale, and ensuring all parts of government make their contribution to ending homelessness, we can create a safer and more prosperous future for people and families across the country.”
Labour’s announcement comes just days after the Museum of Homelessness revealed that 1,611 people died while homeless in 2024.
Big issue founder John Bird said the research demonstrated the need for ministers to redouble efforts towards preventing homelessness.
“It’s clear that we must throw all we can at stopping this shameful statistic rising further. And when councils are buckling under the weight of ever-expanding demand for temporary accommodation, we’re left with little choice but to prop them up, especially with another biting winter on the horizon,” said Lord Bird.
“But this is not an investment to end homelessness. For that we need the kind of measures and support that offers more than a roof over your head, but a full support service helps get the reasons why people fall homeless in the first place out of their system. The long-promised homelessness strategy must invest in this, rather than just reapplying faltering sticking plasters.”
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Dr Lisa Doyle, Centrepoint’s head of policy and public affairs, said the funding will help people in immediate crisis but echoed calls for longer-term thinking and a move towards prevention.
“In England, we know one in three young people facing homeless aren’t even getting the assessment they are entitled to, let alone the support they may need from their local authorities,” said Dr Doyle.
“Funding like this will help those currently facing homelessness but we need to address the seemingly ever-increasing demand too. To shift away from crisis and focus on prevention is not a quick fix – which makes the government’s long-awaited homelessness strategy all the more urgent.”
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