Nearly a thousand households a day seek homelessness help in England

Nearly 1,000 households a day turned to councils for homelessness assistance in England last year, new figures reveal.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government shows 360,050 households approached their local authority for help between April 2024 and March 2025.

Councils accepted 330,410 of them as homeless or at imminent risk, marking the highest total on record.

The end of a tenancy was the biggest driver, affecting 57,190 households.

Within that group, 14%, 8,040, had rent arrears.

Homeless seeking council help

Francesca Albanese, the executive director of policy and social change at homeless charity Crisis, said: “The outlook on homelessness in England remains deeply troubling, with nearly a thousand people seeking support from their councils every single day.

“The UK government needs to tackle this issue as a matter of urgency.”

She added: “We have seen some promising steps from the Westminster government over the past year, including the Renters Rights Act becoming law, which will see the end of no-fault evictions, and £39 billion in funding for social and affordable housing in England over the next decade.

“However, there are still far too many families and individuals without a safe place to live and councils are spending nearly £3bn a year on temporary accommodation that is often of poor quality.”

Section 21 eviction numbers

The figures also reveal that 26,660 households became either homeless or at risk because of a Section 21 ‘no-fault’ eviction.

The evictions will be abolished under the Renters’ Rights Act which takes effect from May 2026.

Family breakdown remains the main trigger for those already without a home.

In 54,300 cases, friends or relatives could no longer take someone in, includes thousands of people who had been sofa surfing.

Temporary housing numbers rise

At the end of March, 130,890 households were living in temporary housing, an increase of 11.5%.

Within that total, 82,990 had children, up 11.4% year on year.

Councils also reported 2,300 families stuck in B&Bs for six weeks or more, despite statutory limits designed to stop long stays in unsuitable rooms.

Ms Albanese said: “We urge the Chancellor to reconsider her decision to keep housing benefit frozen and instead restore it to cover at least the cheapest 30% of private rents in a local area.

“This would stop people on low incomes being pushed out of their homes.”