CIH responds to the latest homelessness statistics and rough sleeping snapshot

The latest statutory homelessness statistics for July-September 2025 have been published. Once again, they show record levels of households living in temporary accommodation, with a total of 134,760 households – almost two-thirds of which (63.6 per cent) contain children.  

This represents a 7.8 per cent increase on the same period in the year before and a 1.8 per cent increase on the previous quarter. 

There are some continued indicators of improvements in the homelessness system. This includes a sustained focus on addressing illegal stays for families in B&Bs over the 6-week limit, which has seen a 21.6 per cent drop since last quarter and 54.4 per cent drop from the previous year.

There also some signs that the flow of households in temporary accommodation is slowing as a higher proportion of prevention duties ended in securing accommodation.  

The official annual rough sleeping snapshot for Autumn 2025 shows a three per cent rise in the number of people sleeping rough on a single night, totalling 4.793. 

Stephanie Morphew, policy lead on homelessness, commented: “Since the last publication of statutory homelessness statistics and the rough sleeping snapshot, the government released their ‘National Plan to End Homelessness’, which will take some time to filter through to future statistical releases. 

"We look forward to working with our members, partners, and the government on implementing the strategy and tracking its success. It is important to acknowledge that where targeted interventions have been consistently applied, the evidence shows that outcomes can be improved rapidly for households facing and experiencing homelessness.  

"However, without action to address the biggest driver of homelessness and housing insecurity – a lack of affordable homes – we cannot address the structural flow of households into and out of disruptive and unsustainable temporary accommodation, or to move away from street homelessness for good. 

“We also note some concerning reports, such as a 168.3 per cent increase in the last year in the cause of homelessness being recorded for prevention duties, such as being required to leave Home Office accommodation. With little in the homelessness strategy to address migrant experiences of homelessness, these numbers are set to rise.” 

• Read our response to the plan
• Read our member briefing
• Read our analysis of the strategy from a migration perspective