What You Need To Know About Andy Burnham's Drive To End Rough Sleeping

Andy Burnham has insisted the UK “can fix” rough sleeping after unveiling new funding to meant to help reduce homelessness. 

The government is hoping to deliver on the very first pledge the prime minister ever made on the steps of Downing Street.

But will it work? Here’s what you need to know.

What You Need To Know About Rough Sleeping

Government data estimates there were approximately 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 – a record high.

It’s also the fourth annual increase in a row, up by a staggering 171% on 2010.

To look at the data a different way, that works out to 8.2 people rough sleeping per 100,000 in the population in 2025.

Plenty of those people sleeping rough come from public institutions. An estimated 1,000 prisoners are released into homelessness every month, according the Ministry of Justice data.

That number notably does not include the recent early releases meant to ease prison overcrowding.

Charity Nacro found half of the people counted on the streets in autumn 2025 had been in prison in the past.

The Ministry of Justice does offer released prisoners 12 weeks of basic accommodation through its Community Accommodation Service.

However, individuals still have to grapple with the long-term housing crisis when they leave that service.

What Has Burnham Promised To Do With Rough Sleeping?

The prime minister held a Downing Street summit on ending rough sleeping on Monday.

He has promised to offer every rough sleeper in England a safe route off the streets or wider support before Christmas.

He said the Budget would offer up a £432 million commitment to help tackle homelessness.

That’s on top of an initial £442 million lump sum from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government budget which will be allocated to addressing rough sleeping before March 2027.

Burnham said: “Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life. It’s a thing governments either choose to accept or don’t.

“Well, I don’t accept it. That’s why we’re doubling funding so that people aren’t just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this parliament too.

“But we can’t do it alone. If we’re going to end rough sleeping, we need every part of society behind us on this. So today we’re bringing together businesses, charities and local leaders in Downing Street to make sure this is a solution that lasts.”

Burnham’s rough sleeping programme calls on local areas to help prevent homelessness before it occurs.

Speaking from Downing Street, he said his pledge to offer every homeless person a bed is “permanent” and that he would “lead from the front”.

“This isn’t an initiative that you’re used to seeing that comes and goes, and then you’re left thinking, what was all that about? This is a permanent drive,” he said.

Housing and communities secretary Angela Rayner said: “The first step is giving people a roof over their head and freedom from the nightly struggle to find somewhere safe to sleep.

“But Christmas is only the beginning and that’s why we will keep working together to tackle the root causes of homelessness and end rough sleeping for good.”

Where Will The Money Go?

The details are still unclear, but in line with the devolution agenda, local authorities will be able to choose how to spend their share of the £442 million rough sleeping programme.

The prime minister’s spokesperson said the total £874m sum will be used to cover the issue for the rest of the parliament.

“It will provide a mixture of accommodation and support for people sleeping rough,” she said.

She added that this will be a “whole society approach” and the public would hear more details in the Budget on Wednesday.

“This goes far beyond Christmas and that’s why the funding is a substantial amount because he feels very strongly that nobody should be sleeping rough,” she added.

However, cabinet minister Sally Jameson ended up in a spat with LBC’s Nick Ferrari after he queried why more than £850m is needed for the 4,000 people sleeping rough.

Ferrari said: “What on earth? We could buy them all houses.”

She argued that it’s not just about bed space but the wider support needed to turn their lives around, adding: “We’re going to be working with councils and strategic authorities across the country to be guided by them about how we should best spend the money.”

How Has The Idea Landed?

More than 30 organisations have offered support for Burnham’s plan, and both commercial businesses and charities attended Monday’s summit.

Specialist outreach teams and new bed spaces have been unveiled in Coventry through the initial funding and more will become available in the coming weeks.

The National Housing Federation will now be working with housing associations to locate at least 2,000 potential homes and bed spaces – though it remains unclear if that will be sufficient for the scale of the problem.

CEO of homelessness charity Shelter, Mairi MacRae, said the funding demonstrated “the government understand that a safe home is not a privilege , it is a necessity.”

But the prime minister has also faced criticism for failing to resolve the homelessness problem when he was mayor of Greater Manchester.

Figures rose from 402 in June 2025 to 444 in June this year, according to the Manchester Evening News.

Burnham claims this is because Manchester was the only city offering that support so more individuals travelled to the area in the hope of getting that help themselves.

But shadow housing secretary Katie Lam slammed Burnham over his attempts to fix the issue, adding: “Burnham is throwing another £432 million at a problem he failed to solve in Greater Manchester.

“Under Labour, rough sleeping has hit record highs – yet their answer is always more taxpayers’ money and more empty promises.

“[John] Healey must use his budget this week to cut taxes for working people, get the ballooning benefits bill under control, and stop pushing up energy prices. Instead of piling more costs on to hard-working people, Healey must focus on easing the cost of living and delivering real value for taxpayers’ money.”

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