'We can do it!' Angela Rayner vows to support PM in homelessness bid to get 'everyone in by Christmas'

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Andy Burnham pledged as his “first instruction” on day one in No 10 “to end rough sleeping in our country” and has suggested people living on the streets have begun to be accepted over the years.

The latest annual national statistics, published by the Government in February, estimated there were 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 in England. This was a new record high and the fourth annual increase in a row.

Speaking on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the Housing Secretary defended Burnham's ambitious drive to end rough sleeping citing the fact that it has been done before.

"We did it in the pandemic, Nick. We were able to when you put a focus on it. Andy saw this as Mayor of Greater Manchester, and if you put a focus on this you can really drive the change you want to see."

The Ashton-under-Lyme MP said £442million worth of investment would be spent on the project so that people can be brought in during the winter.

She added there were often "complex reasons' why people became homeless and that using the Housing First model could help to address that.

"You've got to relentlessly see this as a key focus going forward and working with partners like Shelter and our health colleagues, I think that we can really start to deal with this issue."

Read more: Everyone in for Christmas: PM launches drive to end rough sleeping across Britain by the end of 2026

Read More: Britain must end the scandal of rough sleeping - and our £442m investment will help make it happen, writes Angela Rayner

Nick also probed Ms Rayner on the kinds of housing that rough sleepers may require, to which she replied saying there are different models of support that you can give.

"In my area, we have a thing called the townhouse, which was a facility that was drawn up. We have temporary accommodation, which is more suited or some rough sleeping.

"Some people might need additional support if they've got mental health or addiction, so therefore a different type of accommodation would be more appropriate for them.

"So it's various different types that could mean that one person is given a different offer to another, but that everybody gets the offer that is appropriate for them.

She added that one of the barriers seen in Greater Manchester, when this was rolled out, was that a lot of rough sleepers have pets such as a dog and making sure facilities were provided for those.

"I know it sounds trivial, but it actually is quite critical for somebody to get them off the streets and to get them back into the support network that they desperately needed."

'We can do it'

Nick then pressed her how confident she is that there is enough accommodation out there. "This is quite an ask. You'll be aware the number Shelter says, the last number, 4,793. That's a lot of rooms to find," he said.

"I'm very confident that we can do that. I'm working with people like Shelter, working with the charities and the faith sector. So working with local authorities, I believe we can do it."

She went on: "But it's not just about taking people off the streets, it's about that longer-term and medium-term goal of giving them the support they need to then get them a more secure housing situation, to get them employment, to get them support with if they've got mental health or addiction issues."

"It's about giving people the support they need to really say we care," she added.

Nick then asked her where she got the £442milliion cash from.

"My department's a huge department with quite a lot of spending, and a lot of our projects run over a period of years. So sometimes it might be that there is an underspend in a particular area, or that one goes slightly slower on some of the investment plans that we've got, or initiatives that we're using to measure data on certain things.

"There's ways to which you pull that in, and I have had to make those decisions to move this money into the frontline, but I think that is the right thing to do, is to move that money into the frontline services so we can really tackle this issue, because the Prime Minister made it so clear in his first day as he walked into Number 10 that's what he wants to do.

"My job was to prioritise this, and that's what I've done."

Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly said: “Andy Burnham promised to end rough sleeping in Manchester, and failed because he didn’t do the hard work necessary.

“Now he is pledging to end it nationally without any plan for delivery. And as with many of his other commitments, there is very little detail on how this one will be paid for.”

Sir James added: “Labour must come clean on what other programmes they are cutting to pay for this project.“Otherwise, struggling families will fear that yet more Labour tax rises are on the horizon.”

Deputy Reform UK leader Richard Tice dismissed the pledge as “yet another vague announcement with no substance which uses our most vulnerable for political point-scoring”.

“We’ll believe it when we see it. Andy Burnham’s record on homelessness has left a lot to be desired,” he said

.“As mayor of Greater Manchester, he promised to eradicate rough sleeping. In actual fact, homelessness in the city-region has increased every year since 2021.”