In response to rising homelessness, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has convened an urgent summit with Minister for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Rushanara Ali MP, local councils, healthcare
leaders, and experts. The roundtable seeks to develop long-term strategies to tackle the escalating rough sleeping crisis in London, while also officially launching a call for evidence to guide the Mayor's action plan.
Khan also unveiled the "Homes off the Streets" initiative, backed by a £4.8 million investment, to support former rough sleepers in 3,500 permanent homes. The funding aims to provide essential support—such as financial guidance, access to benefits, and public service navigation—ensuring that those who have exited homelessness can maintain stability.
The Mayor reiterated his goal to end rough sleeping by 2030, but he warned that previous underinvestment by the Government has intensified the current challenges. He noted that the situation might worsen before it improves, especially during winter, given the surge in homelessness across London and nationwide. Recent data from City Hall reveals a 20 percent increase in new rough sleepers in London over the past year, a crisis compounded by cuts to vital services and slowed national housebuilding.
City Hall’s rough sleeping budget has grown fourfold under Khan’s leadership, increasing to £36.3 million for 2023/24 from £8.45 million when he took office in 2016. This funding has enabled the Mayor’s services to help approximately 17,600 individuals off the streets, with 75 percent of them successfully staying housed. Despite this progress, Khan emphasized that addressing homelessness long-term requires a collective effort across sectors—housing, healthcare, and social services—alongside more robust funding.
London has led innovative approaches to homelessness, including adopting a housing-led model for rough sleeping. The "Homes off the Streets" initiative continues this legacy and marks a central part of Khan’s wider ambition to make homelessness a thing of the past by 2030.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “We know we can bring down rough sleeping – it’s exactly what was done during the pandemic, and also two decades ago.
“However, with rough sleeping in London and across the country on the rise, the reality is that the situation will get worse before it gets better.
“Today I am bringing together Ministers, boroughs and leaders from the NHS, local government, homelessness charities and former rough sleepers, so we can work hand-in-hand to tackle this growing emergency. Providing funding to get vulnerable people off the streets and helping them to start rebuilding their lives is at the centre of our plan.
“There’s so much more we need to do at all levels of Government and wider society – as we work together to build a better, fairer, more prosperous London for everyone.”
The Minister for Homelessness, Rushanara Ali said: “To end homelessness for good we must tackle its root causes, not just its symptoms. We can only do this by working together across government, with councils, charities, experts, and front-line services.
“This is why the summit is so important because not only will it bring all these stakeholders together, but we will also hear from those with first-hand experience of homelessness to help inform the Government’s long-term strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness for good.”
Filmmaker Lorna Tucker-McGarvey, who slept on the streets of London for 18 months as a teenager said: “I strongly believe that we can end rough sleeping with the right support, so I’m really pleased that the Mayor of London has convened today’s emergency rough sleeping summit.
“It is powerful to have a seat at the table alongside others with lived experience of homelessness, and I hope our stories will drive forward the goal of ending rough sleeping in London by 2030.”
Cllr Grace Williams, London Councils’ Executive Member for Housing & Regeneration, said: “Rough sleeping is the most visible form of London’s homelessness emergency.
“Tackling rough sleeping requires a range of policy measures, as well as close partnerships between different agencies and investment in the frontline services keeping people off the streets.
“London boroughs play a pivotal role. We are proud to be working alongside the Mayor, the voluntary sector, and other partners in tackling this crisis. Together we can make faster progress towards ending rough sleeping for good.
Charlie Culshaw, Director of L&Q Living, said: “We’ve been a key partner in the Clearing House initiative since its inception and, with significant funding from the Mayor’s Office, we have seen it go from strength to strength. Adopting a housing-led approach to homelessness has the benefit of ensuring access to expert advice from those with unrivalled experience of helping people transition from rough sleeping to having a roof over their heads.
“As one of the UK’s leading housing associations we’re proud to support the Homes off the Street initiative to build on this success. We’re committed to continuing our support for the Mayor’s mission of bringing an end to rough sleeping by 2030 and ensuring that more people have a home to call their own.” Photo by Cograng, Wikimedia commons.