PM Burnham pledges to end rough sleeping in England by Christmas with £442m plan

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced a £442m package aimed at ending rough sleeping in England, pledging that every person sleeping on the street will be offered accommodation before Christmas.

The plan includes £102m in new funding and echoes the pandemic-era Everyone In scheme, which housed thousands of rough sleepers during Covid-19. The government said areas facing the greatest pressures would receive the largest share of support.

The package will provide emergency accommodation alongside intensive wraparound support including psychiatric and drug and alcohol services. It will also fund more than 1,000 permanent homes over the next three years.

Burnham said: "We did it in the pandemic. We can do it again. But it needs all of us. Government will put the money in. But I'm asking leaders in communities and sectors across society to play their part locally too."

According to official data, there were an estimated 4,793 people sleeping rough in England on a single night in autumn 2025 — a 96% increase in five years.

Conservative shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly criticised the plan, saying Burnham had previously promised to end rough sleeping in Greater Manchester as mayor but "failed because he didn't do the hard work necessary". The Liberal Democrats and Reform UK also criticised the announcement.

Housing charities gave a cautious welcome. Shelter chief executive Sarah Elliott called it a "game-changing move" but urged the prime minister to build more council houses. Crisis head of policy Jasmine Basran said the charity also wanted "interventions to prevent people from being forced to sleep rough in the first place".