The Commons Housing Committee has written to Angela Rayner calling for the government to take concrete steps to address England’s rough sleeping crisis
England is experiencing a rough-sleeping emergency and the rising number affected is a source of national shame, MPs have told ministers today.
The Commons Housing Committee has written to Angela Rayner calling for the government to take concrete steps to address the crisis – including measures to help people sustain tenancies in the face of rising rents. They also call for no-fault evictions to finally be scrapped by passing the long-awaited Renters’ Rights Bill as soon as possible.
A snapshot found 3,898 people were sleeping rough on a single night in 2023 – up from 3,069 and 2,443 in 2022 and 2021. Committee chair Florence Eshalomi said: “The shocking levels of rough sleeping on our streets should be a source of national shame.
“The seriousness of the rough sleeping emergency must act as a spur to Government action which prioritises prevention and which brings forward the right investment and support to fix this crisis.” MPs were told that rising rents were made worse by the Local Housing Allowance being frozen, the high number of no-fault evictions and the five week wait for Universal Credit.
The committee said that many councils are unable to provide housing to homeless people as they do not have enough homes. This is because of the large number of homes lost to the private sector under the Right to Buy policy.
MPs urged the government to make more social and genuinely affordable a key part of its pledge to build 1.5million new homes during this Parliament.