'Everyone in for Christmas' - Burnham's rough sleeping plan

- Published

Every rough sleeper in England will be offered accommodation this winter, the prime minister has said.

Andy Burnham made ending rough sleeping his first pledge when entering Downing Street in July and now says he wants "to get everyone in for Christmas".

Emergency accommodation will be provided to end the need for rough sleeping alongside practical support for any health needs, as part of a £442m package.

Shadow housing secretary James Cleverley said there was "little detail" about how the initiative would be paid for or delivered.

Homeless charity Crisis said the announcement was "really significant".

"It marks a turning point in our country that we're not going to tolerate people being forced to sleep on the streets," a spokesperson said.

The previous Conservative government had pledged to end rough sleeping by 2024.

According to official data, there were an estimated 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in England in the autumn of 2025, external, a 96% increase in five years.

However, the annual snapshot is seen as significantly undercounting the extent of the problem due to strict rules over how the data is collected.

Chloe, 27, from London, ended up rough sleeping last year after spending time in contact with care and foster services growing up.

She slept in parks away from the centre of the city to try and to stay hidden, and says no rough sleeper would turn down a bed if it comes with the right support.

"The possibility of ending homelessness is amazing. [But] things like hidden homelessness have been normalised, with people sofa surfing and living paycheck to paycheck, I think there are certain foundational things that need to be addressed first to make sure the scope of help is there."

Chloe was helped by Crisis who housed her in temporary accommodation and now has a place to study at film school.

She still thinks that the scheme will be welcomed by the majority of rough sleepers.

"In general, people on the street want a home. People usually end up coming back to homelessness for mental health or financial reasons. So if that could also be addressed, there is no person sleeping on the street right now who wouldn't want some type of security."

Meron has been sleeping in a tent in a tunnel in central London for about two months.

He says he became homeless after his three-month contract at an Amazon Warehouse ended.

"People leave their rubbish out. There are cars, loud music, it's not dangerous but I can't sleep. I keep applying for jobs but I can't find one."

He is originally from Eritrea and came to the UK by himself three years ago.

"I'm looking for any job and when I get a job I'll get a house. But I'm applying for jobs outside of London because it's too expensive."

Burnham said: "No-one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station. But we've seen it for so long that it feels like Westminster has started to accept it. I won't accept it."

The prime minister said he wanted to build on the success of Everyone In, a Covid pandemic-era scheme that saw thousands of rough sleepers housed in hotels and temporary accommodation.

About 37,000 people were helped by the scheme following its launch in March 2020. The charity Shelter found that about a quarter of them had found settled accommodation, in the form of housing lasting at least six months., external

The announcement comes with an additional £102m in new funding, taking Burnham's total commitment to tackling rough sleeping to £442m since becoming prime minister. The money is said to be "fully funded" within the Ministry of Housing's budget.

As well as providing immediate support get people off the streets, the funding is also designed to deliver over 1,000 homes over the next three years to provide rough sleepers with permanent accommodation. The funding will also provide "intensive wraparound support," typically psychiatric and drug and alcohol services to help people rebuild their lives.

Burnham says he will organise a special conference in the autumn, inviting business, charities and faith groups to outline how they can help tackle the problem. Councils and mayors will play a leading role in devising local solutions with the areas with the biggest problem receiving the most support.

Jasmine Basran, head of policy at Crisis, said the charity welcomed the announcement and believed an end to rough sleeping was possible.

"What we also want to see in the longer term is interventions to prevent people from being forced to sleep rough in the first place."

She urged departments across government to work together to address the issue - saying too many people being discharged from hospital or leaving care were ending up on the streets.

Sarah Elliott, Shelter's chief executive, called Burnham's pledge a "game-changing move".

She said "tackling the most visible form of homelessness is a strong start" but urged the prime minister to act on his promise to build more council houses to help people living in temporary accommodation.

The shadow housing secretary said Burnham promised to end rough sleeping while Manchester mayor "and failed because he didn't do the hard work necessary".

James Cleverly added that families would fear there would be tax rises unless Labour could "come clean on what other programmes they are cutting to pay for this project".

Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Gideon Amos said: "Sticking plasters won't fix the homelessness crisis. Without a proper long-term plan, people could simply find themselves back on the streets once the festive headlines fade."

He urged Burnham to commit to a Lib Dem target to build 150,000 social homes every year.

Deputy Reform UK leader Richard Tice also criticised Burnham's efforts to tackle homelessness while Manchester mayor, and described the government's new plans as "yet another vague announcement with no substances which uses our most vulnerable for political point-scoring".

Reporting originally appeared via BBC News. Read the full source for additional context.