Rough sleeping and child homelessness hit highest levels since records began

Shelter calls for urgent action to deliver more social homes and unfreeze local housing allowance

The government has today released two separate sets of statistics that underscore the deepening housing emergency in England.

The latest annual snapshot figures of the number of people sleeping rough in England in 2025 shows*:

4,793 people were recorded sleeping rough on a given night, a 3% increase in a year.

The number of people sleeping rough in England has more than doubled since 2010 when the data started being collected – up 171%.

*The rough sleeping figures are likely to be an underestimate, as the snapshot can miss people, particularly women and others who can be too afraid to bed down on the street.

The government has also released new statutory homelessness figures that shows the housing emergency worsening across the country. These figures reveal:

175,990 children are homeless in damaging temporary accommodation – up 12,020 (7%) in a year, the highest figure since records began.

The number of children now homeless in temporary accommodation is nearly the equivalent of the number of children in Leeds.

134,760 households in England are homeless in temporary accommodation – up 7% in a year and another record high figure.

Three in ten households (41,250) have been moved to temporary accommodation outside their home area – a 7% rise in a year.

With so few social homes available, and private rents hitting record highs, these figures show increasing numbers of people stuck homeless in temporary accommodation or on the streets.

Shelter welcomes today’s announcement that the government will invest £50million in halving long-term rough sleeping. But with rough sleeping accounting for just 1% of overall recorded homelessness in England, the charity warns that measures like this alone will not be enough to end the housing emergency.

Shelter is urging the government to go further by getting councils building the vital social homes we need and unfreezing local housing allowance, to quickly help families out of damaging temporary accommodation.

Sarah Elliott, Chief Executive of Shelter, said:“It is a national scandal that the number of people homeless in England is now the highest since records began. The government is absolutely right to recognise the problem, but all the support in the world won’t help people into a home if there simply aren’t any available. We need bold action to end the housing emergency for good.

”Tonight thousands of people will be sleeping out, cold and alone, in a flimsy tent or doorway. Meanwhile, far too many children will lie awake, exhausted, after being uprooted from their homes and pushed into often cramped and grotty temporary accommodation. In modern day England, there is no need for thousands of people to endure homelessness, when the government has the power to make it a thing of the past.

“The record numbers currently homeless simply cannot wait any longer for a secure home. Rather than focusing on quick fixes, the government must tackle the problem at its root. It must deliver at least 90,000 social rent homes a year for 10 years, and urgently unfreeze housing benefit to end homelessness.”

Anyone who is facing homelessness can get free and expert advice from Shelter by visiting www.shelter.org.uk/get_help

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