Burnham's Christmas rough sleeping vow falters as 8,748 left on streets

The numbers are heading the wrong way. England had 8,748 rough sleepers in June, up nearly 1,000 since January and the highest count since November 2025, according to government statistics. Only 15% of them had been found accommodation by the end of June — the weakest result since August 2025 — as councils buckle under demand for temporary and affordable housing.

Homelessness minister Florence Eshalomi, appointed by Burnham in July, insists a bed will be offered to everyone who wants one by Christmas. But she conceded a chronic shortage of suitable housing means what the government can guarantee is a different thing. Asked if every rough sleeper in England would get an offer within six weeks, she said: “We're hoping to offer that, but what we are definitely offering is a route off the street for everyone who wants to take up that offer.”

That route may not lead to a home. Eshalomi said it could mean a dedicated plan around mental health or substance misuse instead. “We cannot force people off the streets – we've got to respect that as well – but that offer will be there,” she said.

Burnham made the promise personal. In his 20 July Downing Street speech as prime minister, he said his first instruction would be “to end rough sleeping in our country”. He followed it with £442m in extra funding for the “national drive to get everyone in for Christmas”, then another £432m from March 2027 for a safe route off the streets this winter and support through to the end of the parliament.

The pressure isn't only on the streets. A record 135,600 households in England were in temporary accommodation such as B&Bs and hostels at the end of March 2026 — roughly 90% higher than a decade ago and 4% up on the year. Councils blame a chronic shortage of affordable housing, record demand for temporary housing and the long-term freeze on local housing allowance, which leaves rents far outstripping welfare for low earners. Eshalomi has called that freeze a “big sticking point” and said she raises it “constantly with colleagues … with the Treasury”, adding: “I've been an MP since 2019. I've been raising it since then.”

Frontline staff also flag the prisons early release scheme, with some offenders let out without stable accommodation, plus a rush of no-fault evictions before the practice was banned on 1 May. Eshalomi said she is working with councils and housing associations to bring thousands of empty or derelict properties back into use, but argued the real fix is construction. “It's around making sure we're building more social and affordable homes so that people don't have to find themselves choosing between not having enough money and support to live in a private rented sector.”