Burnham unveils £442m plan to end homelessness and get rough sleepers off streets by Christmas
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has unveiled a £442 million package aimed at ending rough sleeping, promising to "get everyone in for Christmas" by recreating the pandemic-era Everyone In scheme that housed thousands of street sleepers. The initiative comes as official figures show rough sleeping in England reached a record high of an estimated 4,793 people on a single night in autumn 2025, marking a fourth consecutive annual rise, though newer London-specific data suggests some recent improvement.
The government has pledged to offer everyone a route off the streets this winter, though there is no fixed duration for how long councils must accommodate people, and not all rough sleepers are expected to take up the offer. Burnham has announced an additional £102 million from uncommitted housing department budgets, including an £8.4 million boost for the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, on top of £340 million already announced last month for settled accommodation. He also plans to host a national summit this autumn bringing together business, charity, health and faith leaders, with mayors expected to lead local delivery and areas of greatest need receiving the largest funding share.
- Burnham pledges £442m to get rough sleepers housed by Christmas
- Rough sleeping in England hit a record high in autumn 2025
- New funding builds on £340m announced last month; national summit planned
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters argue that with rough sleeping at a record high, the moral and practical case for a rapid, well-funded intervention is overwhelming, and point to the original Everyone In scheme as proof that mass emergency accommodation can quickly save lives, particularly through winter when exposure is most dangerous. They contend that concentrating new money in areas of greatest need, backing local mayors to lead delivery, and convening business, health, faith and charity leaders reflects a serious, coordinated attempt to tackle a crisis that has worsened for four consecutive years rather than merely managing it. For advocates, offering everyone a route off the streets, even without guaranteed long-term housing, is a necessary first step that stabilises people and opens the door to the support services that can address underlying causes such as addiction, mental illness or family breakdown.
The case against
Sceptics, while sharing the goal of reducing rough sleeping, question whether a headline figure of £442 million represents genuinely new, sustainable investment or a repackaging of previously announced sums, and worry that without a fixed duration for accommodation, the scheme risks becoming a temporary sheltering exercise rather than a lasting solution. They caution that councils, already under severe financial strain, may struggle to deliver suitable placements at speed, and that a rushed, target-driven rollout echoing the pandemic scheme could see people moved into unsuitable or short-term settings without the wraparound mental health, addiction and housing support needed to prevent them returning to the streets once the initiative's political spotlight fades. For these critics, tackling the root causes of homelessness, such as the availability of affordable housing and welfare policy, matters more than a symbolic Christmas deadline.