Charities tell Reeves homelessness could reach record highs

Rough sleeping is heading back to record highs unless Labour fills a looming £1bn black hole in frontline funding when deals agreed by the last government expire, dozens of homelessness charities have warned.

- Robert Booth

Faced with what campaigners called "a wall of silence" from the government about how it will tackle fast-rising homelessness, 76 charity bosses this week told the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, that any failure to extend existing funding risked "the most significant setback in progress towards ending homelessness and rough sleeping in recent history".

Matt Downie, the chief executive of Crisis, which has seen a 20% rise in people needing help in the last year, described last month's announcement to ensure all military veterans, young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse "will have a roof over their head" as "nowhere near the level of strategy and reform needed".

Keir Starmer's commitment did not, for example, cover people who sleep rough because of eviction, family breakdown, substance abuse or exploitation through sex work.