Overview

• Nearly £70 million is earmarked to prevent rough sleeping through sustainable accommodation and specialist physical and mental health support.
• An £11 million top-up will help children and families in temporary accommodation cover essentials such as food, school travel and laundry, and £3 million targets drug and alcohol support for people sleeping rough.
• London will receive £36.5 million from the package to help councils intervene earlier, support families and keep children in education despite housing instability.
• Ministers presented the move as an urgent response to rising pressures, with Housing Secretary Steve Reed calling homelessness a “moral stain” and the new Homelessness Minister highlighting the harm to children.
• Official figures show 131,140 households and 169,050 children in temporary accommodation as of March 2025, while the Museum of Homelessness recorded at least 1,611 homeless deaths in 2024; charities welcomed the cash but warned it remains a stopgap.