Funding and boost to bed spaces as Greater Manchester faces winter homelessness challenges

Greater Manchester is setting out a new package of support for people sleeping rough this winter, as new figures show sustained pressure on local services.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is announcing £500,000 for councils across the city-region, which is match-funded by a further £500,000 from the Government’s national £10 million winter pressures fund.

The money will be spread across all 10 boroughs to support the vital work of local services helping people off the streets and into accommodation this winter.

Councils will be able to direct the funding to frontline priorities, including emergency shelters during severe weather, and to support pathways into A Bed Every Night accommodation.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is also announcing a permanent boost to bed spaces in A Bed Every Night accommodation from 2025.

This year Greater Manchester has increased the number of spaces across A Bed Every Night sites to 550, with additional provision put in place by councils in response to urgent need. This means that on any given night, more than 550 people are being supported across the city-region.

From next April, the number will rise to more than 600 – helping to provide even more support to people in need.

A Bed Every Night services work with a range of specialised partners and people seeking accommodation can access help for physical and mental health issues, substance misuse, support for victims of domestic abuse, and probation-related services.

There are dedicated schemes tailored to the needs of women, veterans, people who are LGBTQ+, people with pets, and others experiencing multiple disadvantage.

The announcements come as 112 people were recorded sleeping rough on a single night in October – down from 148 at the same time last year.

Just under 30 per cent of people seen were recorded for the first time – the lowest recorded – while around 18 per cent were experiencing rough sleeping after leaving institutions such as Home Office asylum accommodation.

Thanks to our unique partnership approach and the dedication of councils, charities, and community organisations across the city-region, Greater Manchester has cut rough sleeping by 45 per cent since 2017.

While this latest reduction in the monthly count is a positive sign, pressures remain on local services, and both councils and partners are working exceptionally hard to help people move away from the streets and into stable, long-term accommodation as swiftly as possible.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “As we face another challenging winter, Greater Manchester is coming together to send a clear signal that support is available – but the current pressures on the system cannot be sustained.

“There is an urgent need to invest in services like A Bed Every Night, so we can bring people inside and offer them the kind of personalised support that will help them get back on their feet. But there is also an urgent need to get upstream and stop the flow of people onto our streets.

“The government has committed to bringing forward a long-term strategy to end homelessness once and for all. Our message is: with our Housing First Unit and our Live Well approach, Greater Manchester has the tools to make this mission a success. And with the right support, we will deliver.”

Through a system of dedicated support offers and a focus on prevention, Greater Manchester has been working together to bring more people into safe, secure accommodation and intervene before people find themselves with no other option than to sleep on the streets.

Greater Manchester’s new Housing First Unit, launched this year, will work to tackle the root causes of housing inequality, with a focus on increasing the supply of affordable and single-occupancy homes, driving up standards and protecting renters from rogue landlords, and transforming support services to help prevent homelessness.

Through our Live Well approach to strengthening the social fabric of Greater Manchester, we will also join up local health and wellbeing services, debt counselling and benefits advice, and skills and employment training, helping people to achieve their potential and easing pressure on crisis support.

Paul Dennett, city mayor of Salford and Greater Manchester lead for Housing First, said: “Greater Manchester has an unshakeable commitment to helping people in need and tackling the root causes of homelessness.

"That’s why we’re investing in our local authorities and boosting the support available through A Bed Every Night – but these aren’t long-term solutions to the crisis of housing and homelessness blighting the country.

“This is an urgent humanitarian response to rising levels of street homelessness. But unless we can prevent people from hitting the streets in the first place, we will forever be investing in services like A Bed Every Night.

“In Greater Manchester, we're ready to drive forward this shift to prevention. We have a strategy and vision for intervening to support people and prevent them falling into homelessness and rough sleeping, we have dedicated services like our Pathfinder project helping young people, and we're supported by colleagues across local authorities working tirelessly to help residents at risk.

“We need to match this with investment. Currently Greater Manchester receives £10.5 million in our Homelessness Prevention Grant, but we spend at least £75 million a year on renting temporary accommodation. This is wholly unsustainable – but we know there is a better way.”

Figures published by the GMCA in September showed that an estimated £74.6 million was being spent on renting temporary accommodation across Greater Manchester every year.

Over the past four years the number of households in temporary accommodation also rose by 71 per cent in the city-region, compared to 26 per cent nationally.