Thousands more rough sleepers will be helped to rebuild their lives away from the streets thanks to a multi-million-pound investment in dedicated homes launched today (18 March 2021) by the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP.
Homes will be made available in every region of England, enabling people who sleep rough, or at risk of sleeping rough, to be rehoused in secure, long-term accommodation. This will provide some of the most vulnerable in society with a place to live and help them to rebuild their lives as they transition away from life on the streets.
Through this scheme, rough sleepers will be supported by specialist staff to access the help they need, such as support for mental health or substance misuse needs, so they can move towards training and work, and finding a permanent home.
This funding is the next stage of the largest-ever investment in longer-term accommodation for rough sleepers, with 6,000 homes pledged by the end of this Parliament as part of the government’s mission to end rough sleeping once and for all.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is leading a cross-government drive to eliminate rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament – with £750 million being spent over the next year to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Housing Secretary, Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
"Since the start of the pandemic, we made it a priority to protect rough sleepers through our ongoing Everyone In campaign, which has supported more than 26,000 people into long-term accommodation.
To build on this progress we are making the biggest ever investment in longer-term accommodation for rough sleepers so they can have a secure, safe and comfortable home and rebuild their lives.
Councils have played an outstanding role in protecting rough sleepers throughout the pandemic and today’s funding is a further opportunity to work together to achieve our mission of ending rough sleeping once and for all."
Eddie Hughes, Minister for Housing and Rough Sleeping said:
"Looking back at an incredibly challenging 12 months, everyone who has helped protect rough sleepers, including councils, charities, housing providers and support groups, should be immensely proud of the role they have played in our internationally recognised response.
This new funding will play a vital role in maintaining this progress, with long-term, secure homes providing a safe place to live so that rough sleepers do not have to return to our streets."
The government’s unprecedented Everyone In initiative was launched by the Housing Secretary at the start of the pandemic to protect rough sleepers – some of the most vulnerable people in our communities – and has so far supported 37,000 individuals, with more than 26,000 already moved on to longer-term accommodation.
Data published last month shows that rough sleeping has fallen 43% since the peak in 2017 – with 2,688 people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2020, compared to 4,677 in 2018.
