No exploitative images of hooded weans sitting in the rain begging, like the media love, here.

From BBC UK today:

Every rough sleeper in England will be offered accommodation this winter, the prime minister has said. Andy Burnham made ending rough sleeping his first pledge when entering Downing Street in July and now says he wants “to get everyone in for Christmas”.

Emergency accommodation will be provided to end the need for rough sleeping alongside practical support for any health needs, as part of a £442m package. Conservative shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly said Burnham promised to end rough sleeping in Greater Manchester when mayor of the area but “failed because he didn’t do the hard work necessary”. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgvy2n6grno

So, second time around, Andy gets to try it for the whole of England, having failed in Manchester. Rough sleeping, the worst form of homelessness is quite a challenge for him, if he’s to match what the SNP has already achieved on Scotland.

What have they achieved?

From BBC Politics, in November 2025, the above and:

The number of homeless people in England is higher than official government data suggests, according to new research from the charity Crisis. They say that around 189,000 families and individuals who faced the worst forms of homelessness such as rough sleeping, sofa surfing and living in tents were not included in official statistics.

Official data is based on people declaring themselves as homeless to a local authority, which Crisis says often does not happen. The government says it is investing £1bn in homelessness services in 2025/26, a £316m increase on the previous year. The charity says the number of people facing the worst forms of homelessness [in 2024]has grown by a fifth since 2022 and now stands at around 300,000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0ex5r4q82qo

The Crisis report, confirming the above is at: https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/crisis-media-centre/england-monitor-2025/

A year earlier, so limiting the comparison somewhat, Crisis had for Scotland:

The most severe and immediate forms of homelessness (“core” homelessness e.g., rough sleeping, sofa surfing, staying in hostels, refuges or unsuitable forms of temporary accommodation) have risen by 11% since 2020 to an estimated 18,400 households. https://www.crisis.org.uk/ending-homelessness/homelessness-monitor/the-homelessness-monitor-scotland-2024/

So, with 10 times the population, the figure for England might have been around 180 000 but it is 300 000.

Keeping in mind the limitations, the rate in England, is thus 66%, two thirds higher.