The Labour government has announced it is tripling its rough sleeping funding from £10m to £30m to reduce homelessness.
London will receive £8,010,709 of the Rough Sleeping Winter Pressures 2024/2025 fund to give to local services providing beds and food for those sleeping rough and frontline staff.
The cash boost is extra funding to support those without homes during the winter, when the extreme weather conditions mean increased risks of ill health.
Minister of State for Homelessness Rushanara Ali MP said: “Behind every sad rough sleeping statistic, there is a person who has been let down by the system for far too long.
“This government is more determined than ever to turn the tide on years of failure to properly invest in our frontline services.”
Ali said the government is already taking action to tackle the worst housing crisis in living memory and hopes to end homelessness for good.
The extra £20m is available to the local authorities with the greatest rough sleeping pressures, including all London boroughs and 250 other local councils.
The funding also goes toward other vulnerable groups, such as veterans, carers and victims of domestic abuse who are sleeping rough.
Labour Mission Champion for London Rachel Blake MP said: “This vital boost in funding will help local authorities across the capital support those who are sleeping rough.”
One in 47 people in London were homeless in December 2024, according to research from housing and homelessness charity Shelter.
This is compared to one in 57 in Luton and one in 62 in Birmingham, meaning London has the highest ratio of homelessness in the UK.
In December 2024, Labour pledged to spend £1bn in 2025 to tackle the rising housing and homelessness crisis in the UK.
The number of people sleeping rough in London between March 2023 and April 2024 was 19% higher than the year before, according to research from Combined Homelessness and Information Network.
Credit: Nick Fewings on Unsplash
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