Newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declared ending rough sleeping his first policy pledge, vowing to invest in people's success over paying for failure.
During his first speech delivered at Downing Street, Burnham announced that the government would provide an additional £340 million to support this initiative. The plan aims to provide 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 individuals in England over a five-year period.
The government stated that initial steps will focus on helping individuals who have been sleeping rough for extended durations to secure stable housing, which includes acquiring suitable properties.
"On my first day as prime minister, I'm announcing this government's commitment to finally end long-term rough sleeping across the UK at the earliest opportunity," Burnham said in a statement following his speech. "We'll get to work immediately, bringing together national and local government with the investment needed to get it done."
According to national statistics published in February of this year, an estimated 4,793 people were sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 in England. This figure marked a record high and represented the fourth consecutive annual increase.
Burnham previously made a similar pledge as the Greater Manchester mayor in 2017, aiming to end rough sleeping in the region by 2020. Figures from 2025 indicated that while rough sleeping in Greater Manchester had decreased compared to 2017, it had increased year-on-year. In autumn 2024, the number of people sleeping rough on a single night in Greater Manchester was recorded at 154, a rise from 149 in 2023. The Manchester Mill reported that this figure had increased to 197 in 2025.
Despite initial successes with schemes like "Bed Every Night," which provides hundreds of beds nightly, and pioneering the Housing First scheme, Burnham, as mayor, cited factors beyond his control, such as housing shortages, cost-of-living pressures, and the eviction of refugees from hotels, as contributing to persistently high numbers.
Conservative shadow housing secretary James Cleverly commented on X, stating, "Burnham's rough sleeping pledge looking pretty shaky. His record in Manchester showed initial success, then failure once his focus shifted."