‘Everyone in for Christmas’ – Burnham unveils rough sleeping plan
Burnham pledges to house every rough sleeper before Christmas
Ninoda.com – The prime minister has declared that every person sleeping rough across England will be offered emergency accommodation this winter, alongside practical assistance for any health requirements. Andy Burnham, who made ending street homelessness his first pledge upon entering Downing Street in July, framed the goal bluntly: he wants "to get everyone in for Christmas."
The financial commitment
The announcement carries an additional £102m in new funding, bringing Burnham's total commitment to tackling rough sleeping to £442m since taking office. The money is described as "fully funded" within the Ministry of Housing's budget. Beyond immediate street-level support, the package is designed to deliver more than 1,000 permanent homes over the next three years, giving rough sleepers a lasting place to live. It will also fund what the government calls "intensive wraparound support" — typically psychiatric care and drug and alcohol services — to help people rebuild their lives.
Burnham said he intended to build on the success of Everyone In, the pandemic-era scheme launched in March 2020 that housed thousands of rough sleepers in hotels and temporary accommodation. Roughly 37,000 people were assisted through that programme. The charity Shelter later found that about a quarter of those helped had secured settled accommodation lasting at least six months.
The prime minister added that he would organise a special conference in the autumn, inviting businesses, charities, and faith groups to outline how they might contribute. Councils and mayors are expected to take a leading role in devising local solutions, with areas facing the greatest need receiving the most support.
Scale of the problem
Official data estimated that 4,793 people were sleeping rough on a single night in England in the autumn of 2025 — a 96% increase over five years. However, analysts note that the annual snapshot significantly undercounts the true extent of the problem because of strict rules governing how the data is collected. The previous Conservative government had pledged to end rough sleeping by 2024, a target it did not meet.
Voices from the street
Chloe, 27, from London, spent last year sleeping rough after years in contact with care and foster services during her upbringing. She chose parks away from the city centre to remain hidden. She welcomed the initiative but cautioned that hidden homelessness — sofa-surfing, living paycheck to paycheck — has become normalised and needs addressing alongside visible street homelessness.
"The possibility of ending homelessness is amazing. [But] things like hidden homelessness have been normalised, with people sofa surfing and living paycheck to paycheck, I think there are certain foundational things that need to be addressed first to make sure the scope of help is there."
Chloe was assisted by the charity Crisis, which placed her in temporary accommodation. She now has a place to study at film school and believes the majority of rough sleepers would welcome the scheme.
"In general, people on the street want a home. People usually end up coming back to homelessness for mental health or financial reasons. So if that could also be addressed, there is no person sleeping on the street right now who wouldn't want some type of security."
Meron, originally from Eritrea and in the UK alone for three years, has been sleeping in a tent inside a tunnel in central London for about two months. His three-month contract at an Amazon warehouse ended, and he has been unable to find replacement work.
"People leave their rubbish out. There are cars, loud music, it's not dangerous but I can't sleep. I keep applying for jobs but I can't find one."
"I'm looking for any job and when I get a job I'll get a house. But I'm applying for jobs outside of London because it's too expensive."
Reactions
Homeless charity Crisis called the announcement "really significant." A spokesperson stated: "It marks a turning point in our country that we're not going to tolerate people being forced to sleep on the streets." Jasmine Basran, head of policy at Crisis, said the charity welcomed the move and believed it represented a meaningful step forward.
Shadow housing secretary James Cleverley, however, noted there was "little detail" about how the initiative would be paid for or delivered in practice.
Burnham closed his remarks with a pointed rebuke of political complacency:
"No-one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station. But we've seen it for so long that it feels like Westminster has started to accept it. I won't accept it."
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