Mayor launches Plan of Action to end rough sleeping in London for good by 2030

• City Hall budget on rough sleeping now five times bigger than the previous Mayor
• In a bold new approach, Sadiq will work with partners to focus on prevention and end the current requirement for Londoners to be seen bedded down on the streets before they can access support by 2028 
• Mayor backs plan with £17million secured from the Government to refurbish up to 500 new empty homes and open a new Ending Homelessness Hub to prevent more Londoners from sleeping rough
• With rough sleeping on the rise, the Mayor commits to working closely with the Government, London Councils and the sector to tackle the crisis, facilitated by the national investment and support needed to help turn things around 

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today (Tuesday 20 May) launched his new plan of action on rough sleeping, promising to break the ‘vicious cycle’ of street homelessness.

In a bold new approach, the Mayor is committing to end the current requirement for Londoners to be seen bedded down on the streets before they can access support, and to ensure that those at greatest risk of rough sleeping are helped early, based on their specific needs. This builds on work already done by Sadiq to trial this approach in some of his services. 

Despite record levels of investment from the Mayor, including the single biggest investment of £10million earlier this year (1) – more than any London Mayor – and an overall fivefold increase in funding compared to the previous Mayor, too many Londoners are not being given help when they need it the most. This means that some struggling Londoners are forced onto the streets before services can step in to help. 

Sadiq’s new plan of action seeks to transform this approach, focusing on prevention and increasing the availability of rapid, sustainable routes away from the streets – including specialist services that recognise the needs of particular groups of Londoners, such as those who face additional barriers to accessing services due to high support needs or uncertain immigration status.

To help achieve this, the Mayor will:

• expand his Homes off the Streets programme by refurbishing up to 500 empty homes, helping hundreds of people at immediate risk of rough sleeping;
• deliver a new network of Ending Homelessness Hubs across the capital;
• establish a new rough sleeping prevention phone line [2];
• put more support workers and volunteers in community settings such as day centres and food banks, so support plans can be established for people to prevent them being forced to sleep on the streets. 

Sadiq is backing his strategy with £17million in capital funding secured from UK Government to open a new Ending Homelessness Hub and expand his ‘Homes off the Streets’ programme by refurbishing up to 500 empty homes, helping hundreds of people at immediate risk of rough sleeping. This record investment will increase the availability of housing-led routes out of rough sleeping, which the Mayor’s plan recognises is the most effective way to support people off the streets for good.  

London is acutely feeling the long-term consequences of a national housing crisis and local authorities have had their budgets slashed, forcing them away from preventing homelessness and into crisis management. The Mayor will work in partnership with central government, London Councils and the sector to tackle this legacy, supporting the government’s national ambition to get Britain back on track to ending homelessness. He will work shoulder to shoulder with the government on the support and funding London needs.  

In a speech today to leaders from central and local government, the homelessness sector and the Mayor’s Lived Experience Advisory Group, Sadiq doubled down on his commitment to do everything in his power to turn things around for the capital. 

On the current rough sleeping crisis in London, the Mayor will say: “Londoners care deeply about the plight of those that are forced to sleep rough on our streets. But they feel powerless at the scale of the human catastrophe unfolding around them. And it’s not surprising.183,000 Londoners are now estimated to be homeless. Rough sleeping has risen 58 per cent in the last decade. And one in every 21 children in our city is now living in temporary accommodation.

“…We’re trapped in a vicious cycle. Rising numbers of people sleeping rough have led to overstretched services, that are forced to prioritise short-term crisis management over long-term prevention - which, while helping thousands of individuals in a time of need, doesn’t tackle the root causes or turn the tide on rising homelessness.”

Under the Mayor’s leadership, around 18,000 people have already been helped off the capital’s streets since 2016 through mayoral services alone, with 75 per cent staying off the streets for good. He has also delivered record funding to homelessness charities and service providers across the capital, and increased City Hall’s rough sleeping budget fivefold. At £44.8 million in 2025/26, this is now more than five times the £8.45 million a year it was when Sadiq took office.

On the action he has already taken to tackle rough sleeping in the capital, the Mayor will say: “I’m proud of the work we’ve already done from City Hall. Since 2016, we’ve increased London’s budget for people sleeping rough fivefold. We’ve supported more than 18,000 people into accommodation, with three-quarters of those staying off the streets for good. And we’ve made sure that everyone has access to warm refuge when temperatures fall below zero. Not only have we been helping those who’ve fallen through the cracks, but we’ve also been working to repair the cracks themselves by getting London building again – with more new council homes being built on my watch than at any time since the 1970s.”

On delivering his new Plan, the Mayor will say: “During my election campaign, I promised to develop a plan to end rough sleeping for good by 2030. I’m proud to be delivering on that promise.

"We know the best way to end rough sleeping is to stop it before it starts. That’s why we’re putting prevention at the heart of our response, extending our network of Ending Homelessness Hubs, that provide 24/7 support to those most at risk of sleeping rough. It’s why we’re launching a preventing homelessness phoneline. And it’s why we’re funding more support workers in our communities - in places like day centres and food banks.  We’re also providing people with long-term routes off the streets, through our Homes off the Streets programme. For the first time, we’re unlocking 500 empty homes, in need of refurbishment, that will be brought back into good condition and ringfenced for those that need them most.

"This plan is being backed up by £17 million in additional funding, which is on top of the £10 million we announced in January this year, which was the single biggest Mayoral investment into tackling rough sleeping ever.

“The last time we came close to ending rough sleeping, we had a Mayor and a Government on the same page, with the same ambition. Now, we have the opportunity to do the same again.”

The Minister for Homelessness, Rushanara Ali, said: “We welcome this bold new action to end rough sleeping in London and its relentless focus on prevention which matches our work in Government to get to the root causes of homelessness in all its forms.

“Alongside our forthcoming national long-term strategy, we are taking immediate action by investing a record £1 billion in crucial homelessness services all over the country this year and as part of our Plan for Change, fixing this country’s housing crisis by delivering 1.5 million new homes including social and affordable housing.

“Together, we will reverse the years of failure and get us back on track to ending homelessness and rough sleeping.”

Cllr Grace Williams, London Councils' Deputy Chair and Executive member for Housing and Regeneration, said: “Nobody should have to sleep rough in London. Boroughs are committed to ending rough sleeping in the capital and this action plan is an important step towards achieving that goal. We have a key role to play in supporting people off London’s streets and will be working with the Mayor and the voluntary sector to continue this vital work.

“Rough sleeping is the most extreme and visible form of homelessness, but we know London’s homelessness pressures are wide ranging, with 1 in 50 Londoners homeless and living in temporary accommodation. That's why we're working in partnership with the Mayor on our London Ending Homelessness Accelerator programme, with a focus on improving coordination and driving innovation across London to help end all forms of homelessness more quickly.

"In order to achieve this ambitious goal, it's vital that London Councils and the Greater London Authority work with the government to address the structural drivers of homelessness and ensure London has the resources it needs.”  

Khora, from the Mayor’s Lived Experience Advisory Group, said: "No one should have to sleep on the street, at the station, on a bench. By the time someone is there, something has already gone wrong. Rough sleeping and the damage it does is avoidable, but services in London are full and tend to respond to people too late, after a crisis, making problems even harder to resolve. The Mayor's new plan acknowledges the importance of prevention."

Latoya, from the Mayor’s Lived Experience Advisory Group, said: "The enormity of the problem of rough sleeping in London requires immediate and urgent attention. We are grateful that we will continue our work with the Mayor and push for accountability – but also get all our hands on deck and our boots on the ground to ensure that one day we see a London free of rough sleeping. I believe change begins now."

Louise, from the Mayor's Lived Experience Advisory Group, said: "The Lived Experience Advisory Group is unique in the amount of time we devoted to discussing the additional challenges faced by women experiencing homelessness and victims of domestic violence. It's great to see the Mayor lead the way on tackling "hidden homelessness" and reforming the current system of 'verification' - so no one is asked to sit on a pavement overnight in order to access rough sleeping services."

Emma Haddad, Chief Executive of St Mungo's, said: “With rough sleeping still at record highs, and more Londoners teetering on the brink of homelessness, St Mungo’s welcomes the Mayor of London’s commitment to ending rough sleeping through prevention by 2030.

“Rough sleeping is a crisis and should not be a prerequisite for help. For too long, people facing homelessness have had to endure the trauma of sleeping on the streets before they can access life-saving support. Many of our clients face long-term mental and physical health needs, which can increase the risk of homelessness and make it that much harder for people to get the support they need. We're also seeing more people locked out of an increasingly unaffordable private rental sector, exacerbated by poor supply of housing and intense demand for it.

“We welcome the Mayor’s ambition to end the verification-based model for accessing help and his investment in Ending Homelessness Hubs, which will ensure St Mungo’s can be there for people before they reach these crisis points. We are proud to be playing such a central role in their delivery, which will help to reduce pressure on the frontline response.

“We congratulate the Mayor and his team for working collaboratively to bring about this Action Plan that we hope will deliver tangible change to ending rough sleeping in London. We know this can only be achieved nationally and long term with a whole system approach and look to the government to show the same commitment and efficiency when delivering and implementing their homelessness strategy."