We need political commitment to end homelessness

‘Everyone In’ and the provisions made to protect people experiencing street homelessness during the pandemic demonstrated what can be achieved with political will and funding. However, the latest government figures for England (rough sleeping snapshot for 2022) show that the number of people sleeping rough has increased for the first time since 2017, up 26 per cent on the previous year. The Kerslake Commission recently concluded that the Government will not meet its goal to end rough sleeping by 2024.

Rough sleeping is just the ‘visible’ end of homelessness - the latest government statistics for England show that over 105,510 households are now living in ‘temporary’ accommodation, an increase of nearly 12 per cent on the previous year. The number of households with children has also increased by over 12 per cent.

The impacts on the mental and physical health of such housing insecurity cannot be underestimated, nor can the costs: councils spent £1.6 billion on temporary accommodation in 2021-22 alone. Analysis of the Homeless Monitor suggests that core homelessness will continue to rise without significant further intervention.

The best way to tackle homelessness is to prevent it happening in the first place. Research shows that effective early interventions reduce the personal and financial cost. Analysis by homelessness charity Crisis shows that if 40,000 people were prevented from becoming homeless for one year in England it would save the public purse £370 million (NB. 2016 figs so likely to be a higher saving now). In 2012 the cost of homelessness in England was reported as being up to £1 billion (gross) a year. Comparative research in the USA and Australia shows that the cost of preventing and solving homelessness is less than the cost of doing nothing at all.

Homelessness is the result of structural inequalities and personal risk factors or disadvantage. Viewing it as the ultimate social exclusion brings it under the remit of multiple departments and makes it ‘everyone’s business’.

To end homelessness, we must have a homelessness support system which works for everyone. This includes providing bespoke pathways, support and services for people often not well served by generic service offers, including, for example, care experienced young people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

In our manifesto we are calling on the government to develop and resource a cross departmental strategy to end homelessness in all its forms, with a focus on prevention. This should include a mix of short- and long-term action:

• Increasing local housing allowance rates (used to calculate housing benefit) to reflect the true cost of renting
• Bringing forward the Renters Reform Bill to end ‘no fault’ evictions
• Providing dedicated support for domestic abuse survivors
• Ensuring everyone has access to decent and secure accommodation (with minimum standards for temporary accommodation), regardless of their immigration status
• Investing in Housing First for those with complex support needs
• Increasing the supply of social housing.

We need political commitment to turn things around. At CIH we’re urging all political parties to commit to a long-term plan for housing, including the above action on homelessness, which recognises it as the foundation for creating healthy and sustainable communities.

We can do this with a focus on more homes and better homes. The 10 point plan we’ve published unpacks this further, with more detail set out in our Strategy for housing.