Open Letter to the Chancellor

Homelessness impacts the most vulnerable in society: those experiencing mental health, fleeing domestic violence and other forms of abuse, children, veterans, migrants and others. Funding our sector enables vital support for those who need it most.

Creating a safety net that ensures one of the essential needs every marginalised person has, a home, is our government’s duty. Yet despite steeply increasing numbers of homeless, cost of living challenges and housing shortages, our sector is hurtling towards a £1 billion loss in funding. Between now and 2025, dedicated programmes to address homelessness through the government’s 2021 Spending Review are set to expire.

The value of funding our sector to address homelessness is substantial; we work to address multiple needs of people experiencing crisis and poverty, directing them to appropriate systems they are otherwise excluded from in healthcare, financial support and employment opportunities.

With our remedial and preventative work, connecting people with services and supporting them in integration with family and community, we can realise our vision of a just society. For this reason, Social Interest Group have joined 75 other leading homelessness and housing organisations to urgently petition the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, to safeguard our sector in the Autumn Budget and ensure vital homelessness funding continues through the upcoming Spending Review.

Read the Open Letter to the Chancellor

Rough sleeping will soar unless Labour fills £1bn shortfall, charities say The Guardian

The External Affairs Team