Ministers Must Take Responsibility For Action On Homelessness

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Every branch of government must step up and take responsibility for ending the ongoing crisis in homelessness and rough sleeping, reports Housing Digital.

The call was made in response to the latest statutory statistics, which added fuel to demands that the government crack on and implement its national plan to end homelessness. According to the latest figures for England, covering October to December 2025, 134,210 households were languishing in temporary accommodation, a rise of 5% from the same period for the previous year. This includes 176,130 children living in temporary accommodation. The number of households with children increased 5.9% from 31 December 2024 to 85,800 households in these latest figures.

Other key finding include:

  • 42,640 households were found to be homeless and owed a homelessness relief duty, a decrease of 2.3% from the same quarter last year
  • 33,630 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness, and owed a prevention duty, a decrease of 3.1% from the same quarter in the previous year

Rick Henderson, chief executive at Homeless Link, said: “The numbers of families and children who are still facing homelessness, trapped in unsuitable and health-threatening temporary accommodation, doesn’t bear thinking about. We have warned the government countless times about the need to transform the system to prioritise prevention and break the cycle of homelessness. We need to see the national Plan to End Homelessness put into action, with local authorities rising to the challenge using the new responsibilities and opportunities given to them. It is also critical that all government departments are made to take responsibility for ensuring their policies do not unintentionally push people into homelessness. The social security system and proposed Home Office immigration policies are of particular concern and must be addressed urgently if we are to end homelessness for good.”

There was some more positive news when it came to London, as revealed in the latest CHAIN report covering January to March 2026. This showed that the number of people sleeping rough in the capital had fallen 11% annually to 3,944. Responding to these figures, Henderson added: “It is encouraging to see a fall in the number of people being forced to sleep on the streets in the capital. The Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Plan of Action and exemplary local services have likely played a role in this change. However, numbers of people sleeping rough remain extremely high. Years of stagnant funding and real-term cuts have pushed vital homelessness services to breaking point. This is leaving many people without critical support and exposing them to the trauma of sleeping rough. It is essential that the government supports the Mayor’s plan, protecting services by ensuring they have the necessary funding to keep their doors open, providing a lifeline for vulnerable people.”

Stephanie Morphew, policy lead at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), added further comment on the national statistics, in light of the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force today. “As rights strengthen in the private rented sector and prevention activities at councils strengthen, a plateau in new duties owed might be on the horizon,” she said. “This is welcome, but without an at-scale plan to decant households from temporary accommodation to stable affordable-housing – we risk parking households in expensive and unsuitable temporary accommodation. In the short term, ensuring the social security payments cover private rents by restoring Local Housing Allowance rates is the single most effective lever to transition households from expensive and unsuitable temporary accommodation into a stable home. In the long term, we look forward to the government’s long-term housing strategy delivering a vision for a housing sector that works for us all.”