A new report from Crisis has found that nearly 300,000 people are experiencing the “worst forms of homelessness”.

The Homelessness Monitor is an annual report published independently by the homelessness charity, analysing how economic and policy developments across Britain impact homelessness.

In response to the report, several MPs signed a cross-party letter calling on the government to take immediate action to address the issue.

Research by Crisis shows that nearly 300,000 families are currently experiencing the worst forms of homelessness in England.

I have signed a cross-party letter in today’s Times, calling on the Government to act now to tackle this issue once and for all. https://t.co/HOl30c4z3W pic.twitter.com/hgI0y7Lp1x

— Layla Moran (@LaylaMoran) November 10, 2025

A sharp rise in street homelessness

The number of people experiencing street homelessness increased by 20 percent over the last year — almost double what it was during the 2020 lockdown.

In London, half of the people sleeping rough are non-UK nationals — a continuation of trends observed in 2022 and 2023 of non-Europeans sleeping rough. The report attributes this to the sharp increase in post-2020 asylum applications.

In 2024, local authorities judged 330,000 households to be at risk of homelessness. This was up 4 percent from the previous year and 21 percent over the last three. In London, those increases were even more pronounced.

In the year leading up to the survey, 70 percent of staff within local authorities said that homelessness service ‘footfall’ had increased. This has meant that while more people seek help, their needs will remain unmet against the backdrop of overstretched and under-funded services.

The number of people facing homelessness due to eviction from the Home Office asylum accommodation rose by 37 percent. Similarly, for people leaving prisons, hospitals and other institutions, it was up 22 percent.

The number of people facing homelessness due to domestic abuse has also increased by 14 percent since 2021. This is despite the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 granting ‘priority need’ to survivors.

A decline in prevention

Meanwhile, the success of efforts to prevent and relieve homelessness is declining.

In 2021, 47 percent of homelessness relief and prevention duties ended with ‘accommodation secured’, which was already low. That figure has now dropped to 39 percent. The number of people progressing through the system who are now owed the full rehousing duty has increased from 21 percent of initial applications in 2019 — which was 61,000 households, to 33 percent in 2024, which is 109,000 households.

In the last year alone, 35,000 households were judged as either ‘non-priority’ or ‘intentionally homeless’ – a bullshit label used to exclude people for things beyond their control – and therefore not owed anything.

Temporary accommodation

The number of households in temporary accommodation continues to rise, with the latest figure stood at 128,000.

Over half of these are in London, and most are self-contained. However, one in six are bed and breakfasts, hotels or hostel rooms. By the end of 2024, 8,000 households with children were still staying in highly unsuitable bed and breakfasts.

And despite temporary accommodation being highly unsuitable, local authority spending continues to rise. In 2024/25, they collectively spent £2.8bn which represents a heavy financial burden on local government finances.

Many local authority respondents stated that temporary accommodation costs could force local authorities into bankruptcy, whilst diverting attention away from the need for a comprehensive homelessness prevention strategy.

A system under strain

The report stressed the enormous strain under which the system is operating:

While the Homelessness Reduction Act has meant that thousands of single people have access to substantive help from their local authority when facing homelessness, it is not yet living up to its potential as a preventative, housing-led and partnership-driven framework. Many local authorities offer assistance online or by phone by default, prioritising urgent cases and missing opportunities for prevention.

Additionally, almost half (47 percent) of local authorities report that they are unable to provide floating housing-related support. This undermines their ability to prevent homelessness.

Social housing has become much harder to access for households facing homelessness. In the North, 92 percent of local authorities reported this, compared to 53 percent in London. Similarly, 87 percent report the same for private tenancies, and 76 percent say it’s harder to access supported housing.

The solutions

If things do not change, the report suggests that homelessness figures will continue to increase, reaching 361,400 by 2041. This would be 66 percent above 2020 homelessness levels. However, the report offers solutions that could help to ease the problem.

It states that in the short term, the most effective policies for reducing homelessness are an increase in social lettings, Housing First, improvements in the welfare system, such as:

ending 5 week wait for Universal Credit, minimising debt deductions, removing the Benefit Cap and Two Child Limit, and higher personal allowances particularly for younger singles

And in the longer term:

the largest reductions would result from those same welfare benefit and direct rehousing/allocations measures, alongside restoring Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates to the 30th percentile of local rent distributions and indexing to inflation, increased supply of social rented housing, enabling a reduction in hostel placements, and replicating best practice in homelessness prevention.

Local authorities also suggest that the government should focus on new housing supply suitable for homeless households. Additionally, it should address the role of broader government policy, such as social security and immigration, and also focus on prevention and reducing reliance on temporary accommodation.

With the budget quickly approaching, Rachel Reeves has the chance to designate more funds to homelessness prevention and alternatives to unsuitable and costly temporary accommodation. The reality is, though, only a system which truly cares about everyone’s experiences, sees homelessness as a political choice, and refuses to treat it as inevitable, will ever deliver lasting change.

Feature image via Centre for Homelessness Impact

By HG

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