Your actions helped us face down plans to criminalise homelessness and secure key manifesto commitments from political parties. Find out what this means for our mission to end homelessness.
The dust is starting to settle after the election. Placards are being removed from front gardens and new MPs are occupying their offices in Westminster. It’s time to reflect on the phenomenal amount we’ve achieved together over the past year.
We faced down the previous UK Government’s cruel proposals to criminalise sleeping on the streets. We secured major manifesto commitments from the Conservatives, Liberal Democracts and Labour party.
And, for the first time, we have a UK Government elected on the promise of ending all forms of homelessness.
Your actions, commitment and enthusiasm powered these campaign wins. Here’s how you did it – and what it means for our mission to end homelessness.
How we faced down the Criminal Justice Bill
The previous UK Government’s Criminal Justice Bill would have criminalised sleeping on the streets with punishments of fines of up to £2,500, or even prison. It was cruel, inhumane and counter-productive.
The Bill was delayed repeatedly because of the public pressure you helped build, and the strength of opposition among MPs. This is a direct result of more than 10,000 of you calling on your MPs to stand against the cruel new laws.
This meant that, when the election was called, the previous government was not able to pass the Bill before Parliament was dissolved. We hope that’s the last we see of it.
We’re calling on the new Westminster government not to introduce any new legislation that criminalises homelessness, and to finally fully repeal the Vagrancy Act.
You helped secure manifesto promises on ending homelessness
We launched our Make History campaign in 2023 with one main aim: secure manifesto commitments from all three major parties to end all forms of homelessness.
The result? Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats promised in their manifestos to put a plan in place to end all forms of homelessness. And the Conservatives commited to ending rough sleeping.
You help us show politicians that ending homelessness is a vote-winner. And many of them listened.
Over the last year, thousands of you emailed your MP at key moments. And more than 11,000 of you challenged the main party leaders to back the policies we know will end homelessness, like building social homes.
Many of those policies were reflected in the new Labour government’s manifesto.
They’ve promised to set up a cross-government strategy to end homelessness and deliver the biggest increase in affordable and social housing in a generation.
We’re ready to work with the new government to make these promises a reality and set us on a path to a future free from homelessness.
You put ending homelessness on the agenda of our new MPs
Hundreds of you emailed your local candidates in the run-up to the election, asking them to commit to working to end homelessness. We reached 2,347 candidates in 475 constituencies – in just three weeks!
They'll have those emails front of mind during their first weeks in Westminster.
You showed these new MPs that a future free from homelessness is achievable and possible. We’re already contacting these new MPs to build on your actions.
You helped amplify the voices of people experiencing homelessness
It takes bravery and courage to share your story of homelessness. To share the constant anxiety. The fear of violence. The indignity that none of us should face.
That’s why we owe a huge thank you to everyone we work with to share their story and experiences of homelessness.
Manoel and Joan are pictured here. They shared their experiences with MPs in Parliament just a few months ago. Joan gave the keynote speech, asking MPs to imagine life in unsuitable temporary accommodation and urging all MPs to come together to tackle homelessness. And you helped get MPs there to listen to them.
By taking part in our campaigns, you’re helping to amplify the voices of people that everyone needs to hear from.
How do we build on this success?
We hope that these successes fill you with hope about the great things we can achieve when we campaign together. We’ll need to draw on that hope and resolve as we continue to work for an end to homelessness.
Because the situation across Britain is stark. Homelessness is rising sharply. More people are being forced to undergo the indignity of sleeping on the streets or endure months of uncertainty stuck in a mouldy B&B with no way out.
The same challenges will face the new government as those that faced the last: a sheer lack of affordable homes and a homelessness system that can’t get enough people into safe, settled homes.
That’s why we’re ready to work with the new government to turn their manifesto pledges into concrete action so we can build the future free from homelessness that we all want.
Your actions will be crucial to this. Are you with us?
Get involved
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