The mission of social housing, and the purpose of the industry itself positions the industry as a direct adversary to homelessness. The expansion and surge of council housing in post-war Britain came as a direct response to the destruction of housing and infrastructure in the Second World War, and to provide a stable home for those displaced so that they can begin to rebuild their lives. We do not, in a direct sense, live in a post-war Britain today, but the fight to reduce displacement and homelessness is still a harrowing conflict for the sector.
The scale of the crisis
Homelessness in 2026 is at a record high. Government statistics show concerning number of figures that rank the highest since records began, including rough sleeping and the amount of families living in temporary accommodation. Figures from August 2025 show 4,793 people were homeless on England’s streets, a record high and a 171% increase since 2010 when official records began. These figures are gathered by one-night counts and estimates from frontline workers, and often considered to be an underestimate when related to how many people are truly sleeping on the streets. London keep a track of their own rough sleeping count, which is considered to be a more accurate portrayal. Between April 2023 and March 2024, an estimated 13,231 people were seen sleeping rough in London, a record high and a 10% increase on the previous year.
Due to the nature of rough sleeping, any recorded figures are treated to be almost a tip of the iceberg. Many people who have been rough sleeping for an extended period of time retract from support services and positions of authority, meaning that government-led figures can only be taken as rough estimates.
Temporary accommodation (TA) figures however are more accurate, and just as stark. As of September 2025, 134,760 households were living in TA in England alone. This figure includes 172,420 children, a figure that has continues to break records for over a decade. Nearly as many children are living in TA in England as there are children living in Leeds.
The reality beneath the numbers
These statistics do little to demonstrate the profound human consequence of homelessness in the UK. Homeless individuals often undergo severe physical and mental deterioration, with the longer the time elapsed without a home resulting in more thorough care needed to reclaim a stable, productive life. The notion that the majority of people find themselves homeless due to the abuse of drugs or alcohol is an outdated one. Rising rents, stagnating wages and limited social housing supply mean that more and more families and households are finding themselves without stable shelter. Not only does homelessness of this scale represent a human crisis, but it is also an economic one. In the UK, homelessness charity Crisis predicts the cost of one person sleeping rough for 12 months is £20,128, many times that of the cost of a successful intervention (estimated £1,426).
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Temporary accommodation represents a similar situation. For the nearly 200,000 children living in TA across England, the chance of a normal, healthy childhood is slim. Stable housing is key to a sense of security and belonging, two things which can rarely be found in an overcrowded accommodation, which often families are moved out of and into another similar dwelling regularly as numbers continue to increase. This has a severe effect on both the chance for children in the education system and building a healthy social circle. Research showed that of these children living in TA, 47% have had to move schools, either due to instable housing or a hostile environment from peers. The same report also showed that the children themselves are acutely aware of how they are perceived, and the separation between themselves and their peers.
TA is also a titanic drain of the resources of UK councils. The total spend on housing benefit for councils in England on temporary accommodation was £1.27 billion in 2024/25, as more and more families are housed in unsuitable, expensive temporary accommodation. These massive costs act as a dead weight preventing councils from improving services, expanding their housing stock and enriching their local communities.
What can be done?
The UK has been forced to quickly reduce the homelessness population before. The Covid-19 crisis led to the government to create the “everyone-in scheme”, requiring local councils to house rough sleepers in a bid to reduce transmission of the Covid-19 virus. This initiative reduced rough sleeping by an estimated 37% in one year, although these numbers then mostly shot back up post-pandemic. This rapid reduction showed that with political backing and a sense of urgency, vast reductions are indeed possible in times of emergency.
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Looking globally, there are also a number of other countries that had to urgently reduce the homeless population. One such story is Finland, which since the 1990’s has reduced homelessness by 75%. This was achieved by a holistic, people-centred approach called housing first, a program that prioritised prevention, mass state-funded housebuilding, and one-to-one thorough support services. This approached placed stable accommodation at the beginning of the road to recovery, rather than the goal that would be achieved at the end. At first, there was significant push-back against the system, with residents against homeless people being housed as their neighbours, and politicians skeptical of the ROI versus the expensive housing and support costs. However, as the results of the system began to become clear, and homelessness individuals began to be able to return to work and street-crime began to fall, Finland began to record what would go on to become a global victory story, with the leaders of the housing first program having addressed the UN in the past to discuss reducing homelessness globally. A number of housing first projects have been trialled in the UK, showing promising initial results.
Join us in the fight against homelessness
At Housing Executive: Future Foundations, we will be hosting a dedicated talk discussing the importance of the fight against homelessness, what a prevention-led system looks like and important steps that can help to reduce the spiraling homeless population in the UK. Join us in Bolton on the 6th October to help pave the way to eradicating homelessness in the country that simultaneously has the 5th largest economy in the world.
