Burnham Pledges £100M in ‘COVID-Style’ Drive to Get Rough Sleepers off the Streets by Christmas

Prime Minister Andrew Burnham has urged local leaders to offer every rough sleeper in England a route off the streets by Christmas, pledging an additional £102 million to mount a 'COVID-style' campaign against homelessness.

Burnham warned that street homelessness has become so pervasive in England that it now, "feels like part of the scenery". This latest announcement solidifies tackling the issue as a defining mission of his government, though ministers have notably stopped short of setting legally binding targets.

The fresh funding comes on top of a £340 million package over three years that Burnham announced outside No. 10 immediately after becoming prime minister. While that initial funding is earmarked to deliver 1,200 new homes and support 3,000 people over five years, the newly pledged £102 million will target immediate support services, including healthcare and addiction recovery.

Within the new funding package, £8.4 million will be allocated directly to charities and grassroots organisations through the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister was prepared to tell mayors and local authority leaders that they must offer a route off the streets to anyone who wants one before winter peaks. However, Burnham has made clear he will not dictate how the money is spent, stating that local leaders are best placed to identify the specific needs of their communities. Officials have confirmed that the government is not planning to re-write the law to force local councils to house every rough sleeper who requests it. Under current legislation, local authorities are only required to provide accommodation to those deemed to be in, "priority need", such as families with children.

Downing Street aides conceded that some people will likely still be sleeping rough over Christmas, noting that authorities cannot compel individuals into accommodation if they choose not to accept it. Rather than setting a hard numerical target for the winter drive, officials said they are looking for 'real progress' to be made.

Homelessness charities and campaigners have broadly welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement, but they warned that short-term measures will not solve the UK's systemic housing crisis. The UK currently has the worst homelessness problem in the western world, driven primarily by a severe shortage of long-term temporary accommodation.

Burnham is not the first prime minister to pledge an end to rough sleeping. Boris Johnson promised to eradicate the practice, while Keir Starmer pledged to cut it in half during his premiership. Street homelessness did fall dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic under the government’s 'Everyone In' initiative, which mobilised student housing, B&Bs, and holiday rentals. However, those numbers surged once the emergency funding ended. The government's latest snapshot in autumn 2025 revealed a record number of several thousand people sleeping rough across England.

The Prime Minister’s national strategy draws heavily on his time as Mayor of Greater Manchester, where he made ending rough sleeping a central focus. In Manchester, Burnham successfully reduced numbers initially by fostering collaboration between the region's 10 councils, including sharing data to track rough sleepers across different areas. He also worked with landlords to prevent evictions over minor misdemeanours, which experts identify as a primary cause of street homelessness.

Despite those early successes, however, street homelessness in Greater Manchester has risen again in each of the last four years—highlighting the formidable challenge Burnham now faces on a national scale.