Housing justice charity campaigning in England and Scotland
Reform UK has unveiled a plan to overhaul social housing access, giving priority to UK-born workers under 35, married couples with children, and veterans. The policy would remove foreign nationals from social housing and claim to free up hundreds of thousands of homes, a move Labour and charities say will damage vulnerable groups and risk homelessness.
New prime minister Andy Burnham has vowed to end rough sleeping in the UK, backed by 340m in new funding to create 1,200 homes and provide intensive support for at least 3,000 rough sleepers over five years. The programme builds on Covid-era measures and Manchester’s Bed Every Night, as rough sleeping numbers remain at record levels in 2025, with 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single autumn night.
The Conservative plan to bar foreign nationals from social housing has been proposed to free up about 230,000 homes for British families. Critics warn it could breach human rights, drive up homelessness, and face legal challenges, while Labour argues it does nothing to fix the housing emergency and could worsen costs for taxpayers.