Last week, the government launched its National Plan to End Homelessness. As temperatures continue to drop and desperation for people rough sleeping on our streets rises, this plan feels like a glimpse of new hope.

This October, we published our Barnabus Manifesto, outlining what we believe the government needs to do to end the rapidly increasing homelessness crisis. Our main hope was for the system to be realigned towards preventing homelessness across multiple disciplines and departments, but still ensuring that every stage of homelessness is met with adequate resources and dignity. Helping to reduce the numbers of people facing the traumatic experience of homelessness and still maintaining well funded pathways out of homelessness for the people who find themselves there.

While we are yet to see how this new plan will function in practice, it feels that this new plan takes hopeful steps in that direction.

Below are some of the main points of the plan that we want to highlight.

Universal prevention that tackles the root causes of homelessness

The plan sets out that this will be achieved by increasing housing supply, reforming the private rented sector, and tackling poverty.

This is positive. House-building targets, the Renters’ Rights Act (2025), and the recent scrapping of the two-child benefit limit already show commitment in this area. There is clear recognition that stable housing environments are a key part of ending and preventing homelessness.

Targeted prevention for people at higher risk of homelessness

The plan outlines that this will be achieved by enforcing collaboration across public institutions and setting clear targets. This includes introducing a ‘Duty to Collaborate’ among public agencies to prevent homelessness, alongside further support for groups that are often at higher risk.

This is positive, as one of the key issues in navigating the homelessness system is the lack of cooperation and coordination between public services. There is also often little recognition of how multiple and complex needs must be supported together in order to resolve the risk of homelessness. A duty to enforce collaboration sets an important precedent for multidisciplinary practice across public services.

Preventing crisis so people can stay in their homes

The plan proposes multi-year funding and simplified, coordinated, funding streams to ensure resources are available for early intervention when people are at risk of becoming homeless.

This is positive because much prevention funding has historically gone towards temporary accommodation, preventing street homelessness but meaning many people still lose their homes and reach crisis point before receiving support. A specific focus on preventing people from losing their homes is welcome, as it means fewer people will need to enter the homelessness system in the first place.

Improving emergency responses through better temporary accommodation

The plan sets out to increase the supply of temporary accommodation homes (rather than B&Bs) and improve quality by applying Awaab’s Law and similar measures within the Renters’ Rights Act (2025) to temporary accommodation.

This is hugely positive. It outlines clear steps to improve the experience of people living in temporary accommodation, making it more suitable and humane while they wait for permanent housing.

Supporting recovery and preventing repeat homelessness

The plan commits to a £15 million long-term rough sleeping innovation programme and a £124 million supported housing programme, providing personalised and comprehensive support for people with complex needs. It also confirms plans to repeal the Vagrancy Act, invest in the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programme, and expand Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres to improve access to support and decriminalise the experience of rough sleeping.

This is hugely positive in ensuring that services supporting people with complex needs are accessible and properly funded where they currently are not.

Looking ahead

Overall, these changes have the potential to make a massive difference in the lives of people who go through the homelessness system. A focus on prevention, alongside adequate resources for crisis and support responses, is essential. The plan acknowledges the many areas that contribute to homelessness - mental and physical wellbeing, poverty and financial strain, housing, and interactions with public institutions among others - and recognises that the system must be understood as a whole if homelessness is to be reduced.

The effectiveness of these changes will ultimately lie in the commitment to, and delivery of, the plan. That said, this feels like a landmark moment and a genuinely positive shift in the right direction.

However, we do not want the fight to end homelessness to stop with the National Plan alone. There are key areas that remain unclear and continue to have a significant impact on homelessness.

Despite the plan’s language focusing on prevention, prevention as a policy culture - and widespread early prevention - needs to be pushed further. Many of the strategies still operate very close to the point of crisis. This is not to diminish what the plan sets out, but to highlight the need for greater recognition of the socioeconomic structures that push people towards homelessness long before services are aware of it. While improving temporary accommodation leads to better experiences for those in it, the ultimate aim should be to reduce the need for temporary accommodation altogether, not simply spend more on it.

There also appears to be a lack of commitment to changing the homelessness system at a true systems level. Instead, the plan largely adds funding to the system in its current form. As we argued in our manifesto, what is needed is a total overhaul of funding structures - shifting focus from crisis response to prevention - alongside reform of statutory homelessness duties, which currently create a hierarchy of access to support. While the plan does make positive steps, such as consolidating funding streams and increasing provision for rough sleepers unable to access council temporary accommodation, these measures still sit within structures that have previously proven ineffective.

That said, the plan shows a sincere push to address homelessness at every stage - from temporary accommodation to rough sleeping and hidden homelessness - and reflects many of the issues raised in our recent manifesto. We now hope to see a steadfast commitment to delivery, with action taken urgently and decisively.

Barnabus supports people on their journey off the streets, providing wrap around care or them from rough sleeping through to a home of their own.

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