Rough Sleeping and Good Growth Funds

Debate between Sarah Dyke and Florence Eshalomi

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

The Liberal Democrats welcome the Government’s commitment. We want to see an end to rough sleeping, but we have heard such pledges before. The last Conservative Government promised to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027, then brought that forward to 2024, but they achieved neither, leaving 8.5 million people in England with unmet housing needs. This attempt must do better—a catchy pre-Budget headline needs a plan behind it.

Somerset council has identified 142 bed spaces, but given that it will not know its share of the money until Wednesday, that will leave only around eight weeks for the council to deliver the spaces before Christmas. Rough sleeping is not just an urban problem: in Somerset, 80 people were found rough sleeping on a single night at the last count. In Glastonbury, 131 vans and caravans are being lived in at the roadside by people who have been priced out of a home by rents that they simply cannot afford. They do not show up in the rough sleeping count, but they are homeless in all but name. The County Councils Network warns that more than 23,000 children in rural England are growing up in temporary accommodation. None of this will be fixed without more social homes, so the Liberal Democrats would build 150,000 of them a year.

I have three questions for the Minister: is eight weeks a realistic timeframe for councils to deliver? Will the funding reach rural areas, not just our cities? And will it be backed by long-term investment in social housing, or will people be forced back on to the streets come January?

[Florence Eshalomi]

I thank the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for her important questions. Local councils, strategic authorities and charities are working hand in hand with the Government to address rough sleeping. At the summit this morning, I heard people excited by the plans and the additional funding, and willing to play their part because they recognise that Government cannot do this alone. Solving this issue will take a whole-of-society approach and everyone coming together. The National Housing Federation has been working with its partners to bring forward and offer over 2,000 properties across the country, although we need many more and this is just a start.

Local councils are up for the challenge and they are working with the Government. I hope that the additional funding offers them the guarantee that the Government are committed to the issue in the long term. They had funding guaranteed only until March, but now they have funding for the next three years. We are putting our money where our mouth is to show that we are working on the issue and we are offering support in the long run.

The hon. Lady asks about rural local authorities. Rough sleeping comes in many different forms and guises across the country, and it is important for us to take a place-by-place approach. There are a range of complex reasons why people end up rough sleeping. We know that rough sleeping in urban areas is totally different from rough sleeping in coastal or rural areas, so any approach must be led by local councils, strategic authorities and local organisations who know what works best in the area.

The hon. Lady asks about our long-term building ambitions. We know that the only way that we can address the vicious cycle of people finding themselves homeless again and going back to sleeping rough is by having safe, secure and affordable social homes, like those that many hon. Members grew up in. Through the social and affordable homes programme, we are making the biggest cash injection to build those homes, and equally protecting the homes that we currently have. We have set out those plans in the Social Housing Bill, which I hope the Lib Dems will continue to support.