Andy Burnham Has Committed £100 Million to a Campaign to House All Rough Sleepers Before the Winter Holidays
Prime Minister Andrew Burnham has called on local authorities to guarantee a pathway off the streets for every rough sleeper in England by Christmas, backing the promise with an extra £102 million for a 'COVID‑style' drive against homelessness.
Burnham warned that rough sleeping has become so entrenched in England that it now looks like part of the landscape. This latest pledge cements the fight against homelessness as a cornerstone of his administration, even though ministers have stopped short of establishing legally enforceable targets.
The new £102 million injection builds on the £340 million, three‑year fund Burnham unveiled outside No 10 immediately after taking office. That original package is earmarked to create 1,200 new homes and support 3,000 people over a five‑year period. The fresh money, by contrast, will be directed toward rapid‑response services such as health care, addiction treatment and other immediate assistance.
Within the new sum, £8.4 million will be funneled straight to charities and grassroots groups via the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund.
On Wednesday, Burnham is believed to have told mayors and local‑government leaders that they must provide a route off the streets to anyone who wants one before the winter peak. He stressed, however, that he will not prescribe how the funds should be spent, arguing that local officials are best placed to identify the particular needs of their communities. Officials also confirmed that the government has no intention of rewriting legislation to oblige councils to house every rough sleeper who asks for accommodation. Under current law, local authorities are only required to offer housing to those deemed to be in 'priority need', such as families with children.
Downing Street officials admitted that some people are likely to remain on the streets over the festive period, noting that authorities cannot force someone into accommodation against their wishes. Rather than setting a rigid numeric goal for the winter effort, the government said it will look for genuine progress.
Homelessness charities and campaigners have generally welcomed the announcement but cautioned that short‑term measures will not resolve the UK’s deep‑seated housing crisis. Britain now has the worst homelessness statistics in the western world, driven chiefly by a severe shortage of long‑term temporary accommodation.
Burnham is not the first prime minister to vow an end to rough sleeping. Boris Johnson pledged to eradicate it, and Keir Starmer pledged to slash it by half during his term. Street homelessness fell sharply during the COVID‑19 pandemic thanks to the 'Everyone In' scheme, which mobilised student halls, B&Bs and holiday lets. Numbers, however, surged again once the emergency funding ended, and an autumn‑2025 snapshot recorded a record several thousand rough sleepers across England.
The prime minister’s national plan draws heavily on his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester, where ending rough sleeping was a priority. In Manchester, Burnham initially cut numbers by fostering co-operation among the region’s ten councils, sharing data to track sleepers across boundaries, and working with landlords to stop evictions over minor infractions—a key driver of street homelessness.
Despite those early gains, rough sleeping in Greater Manchester has risen each year for the past four years, underscoring the formidable challenge Burnham now faces on a country‑wide scale.
Burnham warned that rough sleeping has become so entrenched in England that it now looks like part of the landscape. This latest pledge cements the fight against homelessness as a cornerstone of his administration, even though ministers have stopped short of establishing legally enforceable targets.
The new £102 million injection builds on the £340 million, three‑year fund Burnham unveiled outside No 10 immediately after taking office. That original package is earmarked to create 1,200 new homes and support 3,000 people over a five‑year period. The fresh money, by contrast, will be directed toward rapid‑response services such as health care, addiction treatment and other immediate assistance.
Within the new sum, £8.4 million will be funneled straight to charities and grassroots groups via the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund.
On Wednesday, Burnham is believed to have told mayors and local‑government leaders that they must provide a route off the streets to anyone who wants one before the winter peak. He stressed, however, that he will not prescribe how the funds should be spent, arguing that local officials are best placed to identify the particular needs of their communities. Officials also confirmed that the government has no intention of rewriting legislation to oblige councils to house every rough sleeper who asks for accommodation. Under current law, local authorities are only required to offer housing to those deemed to be in 'priority need', such as families with children.
Downing Street officials admitted that some people are likely to remain on the streets over the festive period, noting that authorities cannot force someone into accommodation against their wishes. Rather than setting a rigid numeric goal for the winter effort, the government said it will look for genuine progress.
Homelessness charities and campaigners have generally welcomed the announcement but cautioned that short‑term measures will not resolve the UK’s deep‑seated housing crisis. Britain now has the worst homelessness statistics in the western world, driven chiefly by a severe shortage of long‑term temporary accommodation.
Burnham is not the first prime minister to vow an end to rough sleeping. Boris Johnson pledged to eradicate it, and Keir Starmer pledged to slash it by half during his term. Street homelessness fell sharply during the COVID‑19 pandemic thanks to the 'Everyone In' scheme, which mobilised student halls, B&Bs and holiday lets. Numbers, however, surged again once the emergency funding ended, and an autumn‑2025 snapshot recorded a record several thousand rough sleepers across England.
The prime minister’s national plan draws heavily on his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester, where ending rough sleeping was a priority. In Manchester, Burnham initially cut numbers by fostering co-operation among the region’s ten councils, sharing data to track sleepers across boundaries, and working with landlords to stop evictions over minor infractions—a key driver of street homelessness.
Despite those early gains, rough sleeping in Greater Manchester has risen each year for the past four years, underscoring the formidable challenge Burnham now faces on a country‑wide scale.
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