Nearly £900m for homelessness as Burnham pledges to double spending amid drive to end rough sleeping by Christmas

Funding and Christmas deadline

Burnham said the budget would include a further £432m to tackle homelessness, taking total funding for a lasting solution to nearly £900m by the end of the current parliament. The effort aims to help people move off the streets by Christmas.

Speaking before Monday’s Downing Street summit, Burnham said rough sleeping was a choice governments could accept or reject. He added that ending it would require support from across society.

Support expanding across areas

Work to address rough sleeping is already under way, with two months remaining before Burnham’s deadline. Specialist outreach teams and new accommodation spaces are operating in Coventry, while additional provision is planned in Plymouth and Camden in the coming weeks. Burnham has said Greater Manchester was the only place offering that level of support, prompting people to travel there to access it.

Businesses and charities involved

The summit is set to bring together businesses, charities, housing providers and local leaders to consider longer-term changes. Virgin Media O2 will offer practical digital support to frontline organisations. St Mungo’s and Haircuts4Homeless will work with L’Oréal on hair salons and wellbeing provision for people who have been sleeping rough.

Support and criticism of plan

Housing secretary Angela Rayner described the aim as a “big ambition” and said the government would not retreat from offering everyone a route off the streets by Christmas. Shelter welcomed the announcement. Its acting CEO, Mairi MacRae, said the funding showed the government understood that a safe home was a necessity, not a privilege.

Shelter also criticized the plan. MacRae said Burnham was putting another £432m toward a problem he had not solved in Greater Manchester, and argued that rough sleeping had reached record highs under Labour.