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December 2025 - Voluntary

Nearly 300,000 families and individuals are experiencing the worst forms of homelessness in England, according to recent research: A landmark study has shown that 299,100 households experienced core homelessness in 2024, which includes rough sleeping, sofa surfing, and staying in hostels, refuges, or unsuitable temporary accommodation. The number of households experiencing the worst forms of homelessness has seen a significant increase of 45% (from 206,400) since 2012. 

The Homelessness Monitor England: 2025, commissioned by Crisis and led by Heriot-Watt University, was composed of a survey of local authorities and several interviews with key informants in the public, academic and voluntary sectors, with primary data collection taking place between the months of March and July 2025. For the fourth time in in the Homelessness Monitor England series, statistical modelling was used to estimate the numbers for core homelessness and to project future trends. Crisis use their research to highlight the scale, causes and impacts of homelessness.

The numbers of people sleeping rough and living in unsuitable temporary accommodation has increased by around 150% each since 2020, with a staggering 15,000 people having slept rough in the last year alone. Councils across the country suggest homelessness has continued to rise in England because of a lack of affordable housing, insufficient welfare support and the shortfalls between housing benefit and private rents. 

Seven out of ten respondents, in the survey of England’s councils, said they have seen an increase in the number of people coming to them for homelessness assistance in the last year. This has forced local authorities into spending millions of pounds on temporary accommodation such as B&Bs, hostels and other nightly-paid alternatives which are completely unsuitable for families due to egregious hazards including serious damp and mould, excessive cold, and mice infestations. In total, £732 million was spent by councils in England on unsuitable emergency accommodation in 2023/24, making the total more than five times greater than that of 2017/18 (£135 million).

Unfortunately, the report suggests that if policies remain the same, core homelessness will continue to rise. However, more positively, a package of policy reforms including expanding Housing First service provision, re-basing Local Housing Allowance so that housing benefit covers the bottom 30% of rents and allocating an appropriate share of social tenancies to households facing homelessness, could prevent the increase. The interventions would not only have large long-term impacts but could also see numbers of homelessness falling within as little as two years.

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