Tory government had no plan to end homelessness in England, watchdog finds

The Conservative government’s department responsible for tackling homelessness in England had no long-term plan to tackle or prevent the issue, a damning new report has found.

It comes amid a warning that numbers are set to rise further.

The number of people experiencing statutory homelessness in England is now at the highest point since records began and surged 23% under the Tories between 2018-19 and 2023-24, the National Audit Office (NAO) reported today (23 July).

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The independent public spending watchdog’s report into the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – since renamed the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government by the new Labour government – found the department had failed to tackle homelessness.

The damning report found a shortage of homes for social rent, welfare reforms such as the freezing of local housing allowance and the insecurity of the private rented sector all drove people into homelessness. These failings took place under the premierships of Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, who led the Tories into their worst-ever election defeat.

With England the only British nation without a long-term strategy to tackle homelessness – not including rough sleeping – the NAO said the Labour government should provide a cross-departmental approach to tackling homelessness with public targets and a plan.

A government spokesperson told the Big Issue the NAO’s recommendations will be “considered” as ministers “develop a long-term, cross-government strategy to end homelessness, working with mayors and councils”.

Leading housing and homelessness charities Shelter and Crisis both called on the government to lay out its plan to deliver social housing alongside its long-term bid to end homelessness

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “With a record 145,000 children homeless in temporary accommodation, the housing emergency is at boiling point. The new government must urgently get to grips with rising evictions and runaway rents, or all forms of homelessness will continue to hit shameful highs.

“The government has promised a cross-departmental strategy on tackling homelessness, which, if done right, could be transformational. Limiting rent increases and keeping housing benefit unfrozen are vital measures, but the only way to end homelessness for good is to build the genuinely affordable homes the country desperately needs – we need 90,000 social rent homes a year for ten years.”

Francesca Albanese, executive director of policy and social change at Crisis, added: “With homelessness at record levels, and the numbers expected to rise even more, we can’t delay progress to tackle this scandal any longer.

“It’s critical that the Westminster government urgently establish a homelessness unit to work across all departments. Alongside this, we need clear plans on how it will deliver the social housing we need and properly fund local authorities, so that everyone can have a safe and stable home.”

Why are so many people homeless in England?

The National Audit Office (NAO) report found a failure to build enough properties and prevent people falling into homelessness had seen the numbers of people without a stable home skyrocket.

There was a 65,000-home shortfall in 2022-23 compared to the target of Boris Johnson’s government of building 300,000 homes a year.

That lack of housing drove people into the private rented sector where rents also soared to record highs.

Almost a quarter of the households who needed council support to prevent or relieve homelessness in 2023-24 approached local authorities after facing eviction from a private rental sector home.

That Tory government had promised to reform the private rented sector through the Renters Reform Bill to give tenants more security but failed to deliver. Labour has promised to scrap no-fault evictions through its Renters’ Rights Bill.

A record 112,660 households found themselves placed in temporary accommodation after contacting councils for support.

The report found many of the temporary homes are unsuitable – either due to low quality or location – with families spending longer in them than they should.

There was a 42% increase in the number of households in temporary accommodation outside their local area between 2018-19 and 2023-24, rising from 23,450 to 33,350.

Meanwhile, 2,960 households with children were living in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than the maximum six-week period allowed under law as of the start of 2024.

Christa Maciver, head of research, policy and communications at temporary accommodation Justlife, said the issue needs greater focus from central government.

“Life in temporary accommodation is marked by instability and chaos. The people we support face daily challenges on multiple fronts, including a lack of basic facilities, declining health, isolation and anxiety,” said Maciver.

“This is why any ending homelessness strategies developed by our new government must put temporary accommodation at the centre. Despite making up by far the largest share of our homelessness statistics, temporary accommodation has not received the policy focus it desperately needs.

“We hope our new government seizes this opportunity to create a better system in which temporary accommodation is truly a temporary solution where people can live in safety and with dignity as they wait for a home.”

The report also revealed that local authorities spent £2.44bn on homelessness services in 2022-23, making up 60% of their total gross spending for housing services. That proportion has surged from 25% in 2010-11 when councils were spending £1.14bn on services.

That situation has seen several local authorities warn the spiralling cost of homelessness has left them facing effective bankruptcy in recent months. Local authorities in England spent £1.6bn on temporary accommodation in 2022-23.

Councillor Claire Holland, housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: “Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing is one of the most urgent issues facing councils. As a larger proportion of their budgets is put towards costly temporary accommodation, this puts significant pressure on council finances and leaves little left over for preventative services. Without concerted effort the situation will only get worse.

“We need government to take urgent action to implement the recommendations highlighted in this report, by adopting a genuinely cross-departmental approach to tackling homelessness, and producing a long-term strategy.”

The National Audit Office last analysed the effectiveness of the government’s handling of homelessness in 2017 before the Homelessness Reduction Act was introduced, placing more duties on local authorities to prevent and relieve homelessness.

The watchdog said the department significantly improved its understanding of the nature and causes of homelessness in the last seven years.

The proportion of people who needed support for homelessness from local authorities despite being in full-time or part-time work fell between 2018-19 and 2023-24 from 27% to 22%.

But gaps remain that make it harder to direct resources effectively while the department also has limited power to influence other government departments’ decisions and has fallen behind on housing targets, the report said.

A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Homelessness levels have sky-rocketed and too many families are living in temporary accommodation. We will take the action needed to tackle this issue and develop a long-term, cross-government strategy working with mayors and councils to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness.

“We welcome the NAO’s report which shines a light on this important issue and will consider their recommendations as we develop our strategy.” 

Big Issue’s Blueprint for Change has called on the government to ramp up building of social and affordable housing to end poverty.

Ministers must also end no-fault evictions, increase universal credit to provide an ‘essentials guarantee’ and keep local housing allowance permanently unfrozen to prevent people from losing their homes, Big Issue Group said.

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