Daily Junction.mobi portal"Criminalising homelessness is like arresting someone for having cancer. It treats the symptom, not the cause. If we want to end rough sleeping, we need to build social housing, fund homelessness services, and fix the broken welfare system. Arresting people for being homeless is a moral failure." — Polly Neate, CEO of Shelter, speaking in 2023.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government launched 'Everyone In'—a policy to house all rough sleepers in emergency accommodation (hotels, B&Bs) to prevent virus transmission. By May 2020, 37,000 people had been housed, including long-term rough sleepers who had been on the streets for years.
The policy was hailed as proof that rough sleeping could be ended if there was political will. But it was temporary. By 2021, funding ended, and many people returned to the streets. The government did not:
'Everyone In' showed that rough sleeping is a policy choice, not an inevitability. But it also showed that emergency measures without long-term solutions do not work.
The solutions are not complicated. They are politically difficult.
First, build social housing. The UK needs 90,000 social homes per year (Shelter estimate) to meet need and reduce homelessness. This requires government investment (£10 billion per year) and planning reform to allow building.
Second, abolish Section 21 'no-fault' evictions. Give private renters security of tenure and the right to challenge evictions. This would prevent 32% of rough sleeping (eviction from private rented housing).
Third, increase Local Housing Allowance. LHA should cover at least the bottom 30% of rents in each area (as originally intended), not be frozen below market rents. This would prevent rent arrears and evictions.
Fourth, fund homelessness prevention. Councils spend £1.2 billion/year on temporary accommodation but only £500 million on prevention. Shifting funding to prevention (e.g., rent deposit schemes, debt advice, mediation for relationship breakdown) would reduce homelessness and save money.
Fifth, provide move-on housing. People leaving prison, care, or hospital should have housing arranged before release. This requires coordination between institutions (prisons, hospitals, care homes) and housing providers.
Sixth, decriminalise rough sleeping. Repeal PSPOs that criminalise homelessness and fund outreach services to connect rough sleepers with support.
3,898 people sleep rough in England on any given night (autumn 2023), double the number in 2010 (1,768). The true number is far higher: 15,000-20,000 people sleep rough at some point each year. The main causes are eviction from private rented housing (32%), relationship breakdown (18%), and leaving institutions with nowhere to go (15%). Councils spend £1.2 billion/year on temporary accommodation but only £500 million on homelessness prevention. Rough sleeping has doubled due to the housing crisis (lack of affordable housing, rising rents, insecure tenancies), welfare cuts, and cuts to homelessness services. The UK criminalises rough sleeping through PSPOs, fining and arresting people for being homeless. The question is whether we have the political courage to build social housing, fund prevention, and treat homelessness as a solvable problem, not a crime.