Prioritise People Sleeping Rough in the Government’s Homelessness Strategy

As new annual figures show another increase in rough sleeping in London, The Salvation Army is calling on the government to put people who are forced to sleep rough at the heart of its upcoming homelessness strategy. 

We believe that people sleeping rough should have the same priority as other vulnerable people who are waiting for emergency housing. Currently, 'priority need' is used by councils to determine who gets emergency housing support. It's meant to ensure the most vulnerable are given priority access and yet many people forced to sleep rough do not qualify.  

The London CHAIN (Combined Homelessness and Information Network) figures*, which are the most detailed data on rough sleeping in England, show a 10% increase compared to the previous year. This is the third year in a row that these figures have risen. 

• A total of 13,231 people were seen rough sleeping in London in 2024/25
• The 2024/25 total is 63% higher than the total of 8,096 people seen rough sleeping ten years ago, in 2015/16.
• 8,396 people were seen rough sleeping for the first time this year
• 3,028 people seen rough sleeping in 2024/25 were also seen sleeping rough the previous year. This is a 27% increase on the previous year.
• Homelessness services worked to help 5,177 people who were seen rough sleeping during 2024/25 into any type of accommodation.

Director of The Salvation Army's Homeless Services, Nick Redmore, said:

"Living on the streets increases people's vulnerability to violence and exploitation, and significantly reduces life expectancy, whilst also having significant and detrimental impacts on physical and mental health. More needs to be done now to protect them.'

"We welcome the government's recent announcement of funding for more social housing which is a key way to ease the homelessness crisis but they must not forget the people who are sleeping on our streets tonight. 

"The priority need system desperately needs to be reformed to include people who are forced to sleep rough. We want to see clear action on this in the upcoming homelessness strategy otherwise the number of people sleeping on our streets will only continue to rise."

The Salvation Army is also calling for: 

• In the short term, a change to homelessness legislation in England so that rough sleepers are added to the priority need list for emergency and then longer-term housing but, in the long term, for the priority need list to be abolished so everyone who is homeless can be helped. 
• Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to be immediately unfrozen and increased in line with rising rents so that people on lower incomes who are renting can afford somewhere to live. LHA is the rate used to calculate housing benefit for private renters.
• An introduction of the same recording system of the rough sleeping population as in London (CHAIN statistics) to other cities and regions in the UK with high levels of homelessness, providing detailed information on the number of homeless people across the whole country in need of support. 

Sign this petition to demand urgent action.