Rough sleeping among families with children

Rough sleeping among families with children

On 26 February 2026, ITV News reported that the Homelessness Minister had written to all councils in England to remind them of their statutory duties towards children experiencing homelessness. The letter followed media reports that some families with children had been “forced” to sleep rough after being refused emergency accommodation by the local authority they approached for assistance.

Official statistics on rough sleeping estimate the number of people sleeping rough on a given night in autumn each year. The statistics do not identify whether any rough sleepers are part of a household with children. The Housing Act 1996 and the Children Act 1989 provide safeguards intended to prevent children from sleeping rough.

In autumn 2025, an estimated 4,793 people slept rough on a single night in England. This was an increase of 3% from 2024 and about the same as the last record high in autumn 2017, when an estimated 4,751 people were sleeping rough on a given night.

The government’s strategy, A National Plan to End Homelessness, backed by £3.5 billion over three years, sets out the government’s “long-term vision to end homelessness and rough sleeping and make sure everyone has access to a safe, decent and secure home”. The strategy includes multiple measures intended to address rough sleeping, including a commitment to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this parliament.

Reports of families with children sleeping rough

On 25 February 2026, ITV News reported on two cases where families with young children had been “forced to sleep rough on the streets, with local councils in England being accused of breaking the law by denying families emergency accommodation”.

On 26 February 2026, ITV News reported that the Homelessness Minister, Alison McGovern, wrote to council leaders and chief executives to express concern about reports of families with children sleeping rough and to highlight that “the relevant legislation is clear that a child should never be sleeping on the streets, in cars or any other place not designed for living in”. The article’s author, Daniel Hewitt, posted a copy of the letter on social media platform X. The letter outlines the relevant legislation in the Housing Act 1996 and the Children Act 1989.

Local authority homelessness assistance

In England, people experiencing homelessness can apply to their local housing authority for assistance; authorities assess these applications under part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (‘the 1996 act’).

In reaching their decisions, local authorities must comply with all relevant legislation and case law, and they must have regard to the government’s statutory homelessness code of guidance (‘the code of guidance’). They must also follow their own internal policies and procedures.

Section 1 of the Commons Library briefing Statutory homelessness (England): The legal framework and performance (July 2024) provides an overview of local authorities’ homelessness duties.  

Section 1 of the Library briefing Rough sleeping in England: Local and national government action (January 2025) covers the statutory homelessness framework regarding people who are sleeping rough or are at risk of sleeping rough.

Duty to provide interim accommodation

Section 188(1) of the 1996 act requires local authorities to provide suitable interim accommodation where it has reason to believe an applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance (based on UK residence and immigration status) and have a priority need. Under the 1996 act, a household that includes dependent children has a priority need.

The code of guidance makes it clear that the threshold for triggering the interim accommodation duty is low because the authority “only has to have a reason to believe (rather than being satisfied) that the applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need” (para 15.5).

The interim accommodation duty does not depend on whether the applicant has a local connection (for example, if they are living in the area or were previously living there for a certain amount of time).

Once triggered, the interim duty continues while the authority establishes what other action it must take and until the applicant is notified of certain decisions on their application. For example, the duty may be ended if the conditions for a local connection referral are met (see below for information on local connection).

Refusing an offer of suitable accommodation, including offers made under the interim duty, may affect an applicant’s right to receive any further offers. If an authority is no longer required to provide accommodation to a household that includes dependent children, the authority’s social services department may be obliged to help (see below for information on social services assistance).

Shelter Legal provides information on Local authority interim duty to accommodate.

Temporary accommodation challenges

Interim accommodation is a form of temporary accommodation (TA) and is sometimes referred to as ‘emergency’ accommodation.

In April 2025, the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee concluded that TA costs are placing significant financial pressure on local authorities.

TA is funded through a combination of sources including applicants’ contributions, the Housing Benefit subsidy system, the Local Government Finance Settlement and grant funding. Analysis by the Institute for Government shows that local authorities’ share of TA expenses (excluding administration costs) has risen sharply, from 7.1% in 2009/10 to 50.6% in 2024/25.

Section 3 of the Commons Library briefing How is temporary accommodation provided to homeless households in England? (December 2025) provides an overview of how TA is funded.

The government’s strategy, A National Plan to End Homelessness, was published on 11 December 2025. It sets out the government’s “long-term vision to end homelessness and rough sleeping and make sure everyone has access to a safe, decent and secure home.” The strategy, backed by £3.5 billion over three years, describes the action the government will take across five pillars, focusing on prevention, improving emergency responses and reducing repeat homelessness.

Pillar four of the strategy ‘Improving emergency responses’ sets out multiple actions regarding the provision of TA to households experiencing homelessness, including increasing supply and exploring how TA is funded.

The Commons Library briefing Temporary accommodation in England: Issues and government action (December 2025) summarises stakeholder views on the issues with providing TA, including growing costs. It also provides information on what the government is doing to address the issues, including through its national strategy.

Local connection and referring to another authority

Local authorities cannot refuse to provide interim accommodation, or to make inquiries into a homelessness application, just because the applicant does not have a local connection to the area. A person can apply to any local authority regardless of local connection. However, the local authority can refer the application to another local authority if the “conditions for referral” are met (para 10.51 of the code of guidance).

When carrying out their inquiries, local authorities have general discretion to consider whether an applicant has a local connection with their area.

If an applicant does not have a local connection to the authority they apply to, the authority can refer their application to another local authority where the applicant does have a local connection. It can only do this at certain stages in a homelessness application, including for example when the authority is satisfied that a relief duty is owed (that is, the duty to help someone secure accommodation if they are homeless and eligible for assistance).

If the conditions for referring an application to another local authority are met, the responsibility for discharging homelessness duties is transferred to the other authority once the applicant has been notified, in writing, that their case will be, or has been, referred. However, applicants who are homeless and may be in priority need are still owed an interim accommodation duty pending the outcome of the referral (section 199A(2) of the 1996 act).

When local authorities disagree on whether the conditions for referral have been met, the homelessness code of guidance directs authorities to the Local Authorities Agreement (LAA). The LAA sets out the guidelines for local authorities on procedures for referring cases between them, and for resolving disputes that arise when authorities disagree that the conditions for a referral from one authority to another are met.

Section 1.4 of the Library briefing on Statutory homelessness (England): The legal framework and performance (July 2024) covers local connection.

Shelter Legal provides detailed information on Local connection and referrals.

Local authority social services assistance

If a household with children is not entitled to interim accommodation under the 1996 act (for example, because of the applicant’s UK residence or immigration status), they may be entitled to support from the local authority social services department.

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 requires authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need by providing a range of services, which can include providing accommodation. These services can also be provided to any member of the child’s family if they will safeguard the child’s welfare.

Shelter Legal provides information on Help for children and families who are ineligible for homelessness assistance.

Legal challenges and complaints

There is no statutory right to request a review of a local authority’s refusal to provide interim accommodation. However, it can be challenged through a judicial review. Shelter provides information on When to refer a homelessness case for judicial review. Applicants would need to seek professional legal advice if they wish to explore this option.  

Homeless applicants can complain about a local authority’s response via its formal complaints procedure. Unresolved complaints may be referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) for investigation. The LGSCO has produced a fact sheet on Homelessness applications.

Rough sleeping statistics How many families with children are rough sleeping?

It is difficult to accurately estimate the number of people sleeping rough given the hidden nature of rough sleeping. Whilst there are statistics which provide an estimate of rough sleeping, these do not show the number of families with children that are sleeping rough.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes data on the number of people sleeping rough on a given night in autumn, however this count refers to the number of individuals, rather than the number of households or relationship between the people being counted (such as if they are a family). Statistics on this are provided below.

MHCLG additionally collects and publishes statistics on the broad characteristics and circumstances of households owed a statutory homelessness duty. This includes households who were rough sleeping at the time of applying to the authority for homelessness assistance as well as the support needs of people owed a duty such as those who have a history of rough sleeping.

MHCLG publishes a breakdown of this information for households with children. In 2024/25, there were 510 households with children owed a relief duty by their local authority where they were recorded as rough sleeping at the time of applying to the authority.

Additionally, people sleeping rough will only be recorded in these statistics if they have made an application that has been accepted by the local authority. More information can be found in the technical report of the rough sleeping snapshot.

Rough sleeping snapshot

MHCLG publishes a ‘snapshot’ of the number of people sleeping rough in England on a given night in autumn each year. The most recent available data is for autumn 2025, with figures available back to autumn 2010.

Local authorities are asked to produce either a formal count or an estimate of the number of people sleeping rough in the area. The figure provided in the snapshot is intended to give an idea of rough sleeping on a given night, rather than describe the total population experiencing rough sleeping over a period of time.

As shown in the chart below, in autumn 2025 it was estimated that 4,793 people slept rough on a single night. This was an increase of 3% from 2024 and about the same as the last record high in autumn 2017, when an estimated 4,751 people were sleeping rough on a given night.

The estimated number of people sleeping rough on a given night has increased in each of the last four years, and the number of rough sleepers in 2025 was 171% higher than the number in 2010 (1,770).

It is worth noting that estimates for 2020 and 2021 were significantly lower because of measures introduced by the government to protect people during the covid-19 pandemic, such as the ‘Everyone In’ .

Other key points from the data include:

• Official statistics are recognised as underestimating the true extent of rough sleeping, as they do not account for all forms of homelessness or hidden populations.
• The majority of rough sleepers in 2023 were male (82%). Most were also aged 26 and older (86%) and UK nationals (65%).

MHCLG has published a data dashboard on the rough sleeping annual snapshot, where data can be filtered by year and area.

Government action to address rough sleeping

The government’s National Plan to End Homelessness, includes several measures intended to address rough sleeping, focused particularly on those who have slept on the streets the longest:

• Setting a new national target to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this parliament.
• Launching a £124 million supported housing programme, reaching over 2,500 people, both to prevent homelessness and to help people off the streets and into more stable housing.
• Launching a £15 million programme to tackle long-term rough sleeping, working with targeted areas to test innovative approaches and spread learning.
• Providing £37 million for the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, working with the voluntary, community and faith sector to improve support given to people experiencing long-term rough sleeping.
• Working with councils and wider public services to define consistent expectations on effective and proportionate engagement and enforcement to address persistent anti-social or harmful behaviour in a rough sleeping context, where necessary.

The strategy includes measures to help local authorities provide person-centred support to prevent rough sleeping, including through an Ending Rough Sleeping Risk Assessment Tool to identify people who are most at risk of long-term rough sleeping, and who need an accommodation-based intervention.

The government says it will also produce an “Outreach Toolkit, alongside a Single Homelessness and Complex Needs Toolkit…[to help authorities] provide advice on designing and delivering services, including on effective outreach, accommodation pathways including the role of housing-led solutions, including Housing First, and enforcement”.

On 26 February 2026, the government launched two of the above funding programmes: the £37 million Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund and the £15 million Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme.

The government has also confirmed that from 2026/27 local authorities will receive over £2.2 billion over three years to prevent and address homelessness and rough sleeping through the new Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant.

The rough sleeping measures in the national strategy are not explicitly linked to addressing homelessness among families with children.

The Commons Library briefing Rough Sleeping in England: Causes and statistics (March 2025) provides an overview of what is known about the causes of rough sleeping in England and a summary of official historic rough sleeping statistics.

Parliamentary material Parliamentary questions

Homelessness: Families

9 March 2026 | UIN 117823

Asked by: Dr Rosena Allin-Khan

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of families with children being refused (a) homelessness relief and (b) homelessness prevention duties by local authorities in England.

Answering member: Alison McGovern | Department: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

My Department publishes quarterly data on the number of households that do not qualify for a homelessness duty after initial assessment which you can access on gov.uk here. The Department provides clear guidance for local authorities in exercising their homelessness functions, including taking decisions on duties owed, in the Homelessness Code of Guidance, which you can access here.

I wrote to council leaders and chief executives on Wednesday 25 February setting out local authorities’ legal duties to homeless families with children under the Housing Act 1996 and Children Act 1989.

Parliamentary debates

No Recourse to Public Funds: Homelessness, 16 December 2025

Families in Temporary Accommodation, 24 November 2025

Ending Homelessness, 21 October 2025

Written statements

National Plan to End Homelessness, 11 December 2025

Press material

'Abysmal': Minister writes to local councils after ITV News reveals children sleeping rough (ITV News, 26 February 2026)

Councils leave children as young as four sleeping on the streets, ITV News finds (ITV News, 25 February 2026)

North London mum awarded £5k after council failings left family sofa-surfing and rough sleeping (My London, 6 December 2025)

Please find the Local Government Ombudsman’s report referred to in the article above.

Homeless mum slept rough with kids in Walthamstow park after rejecting council's offer of Lincolnshire home (Waltham Forest Echo, 13 March 2025)

Further reading Research briefings

Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee, Short inquiry on Children in Temporary Accommodation (Committee report published 3 April 2025 and government response published 16 June 2025)

HCLG Committee, Short inquiry on Rough Sleeping in England (November 2024 to June 2025, Oral evidence transcripts and multiple correspondence between the Chair of the committee and the Homelessness Minister)

Commons Library, Statutory homelessness (England): Causes and government policy (July 2024)