Burnham pledges £900m for homelessness amid drive to end rough sleeping

‘Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life,’ said Andy Burnham before a rough sleeping summit on Monday that will bring together business and charities. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian View image in fullscreen ‘Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life,’ said Andy Burnham before a rough sleeping summit on Monday that will bring together business and charities. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian Burnham pledges £900m for homelessness amid drive to end rough sleeping Downing Street to almost double funding with further £432m in this week’s budget Andy Burnham is to double spending on ending rough sleeping to almost £900m , as he steps up efforts to get people off the streets by Christmas. The prime minister has pledged to offer every rough sleeper in England a safe route off the streets or wider support as a central part of his premiership. As he prepared for a Downing Street summit on ending rough sleeping on Monday, Burnham said the budget would bring a further £432m commitment to helping to tackle homelessness. The sum is on top of an initial £442m from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government budgets that will be allocated to the problem before March 2027. Speaking ahead of the meeting, which will bring together charities and businesses, Burnham said: “Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life. It’s a thing governments either choose to accept or don’t. “Well, I don’t accept it. That’s why we’re doubling funding so that people aren’t just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this parliament too. “But we can’t do it alone. If we’re going to end rough sleeping, we need every part of society behind us on this. So today we’re bringing together businesses, charities and local leaders in Downing Street to make sure this is a solution that lasts.” Andy Burnham calls on wider society to help end rough sleeping ’s mission to end rough sleeping is already under way with just two months to go before his deadline. There are specialist outreach teams and new accommodation spaces operating in Coventry, and further provision is being rolled out in places including Plymouth and Camden over the coming weeks. The additional funding is being provided in an attempt to solve the problem of rough sleeping in the longer term.