Research and analysis

Rough Sleeping Questionnaire 2025: Chief Analyst foreword

Updated 28 May 2026

Applies to England

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is committed to following an evidence-informed approach to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. The Rough Sleeping Questionnaire was first run in 2019. It was designed to improve understanding of people’s experiences of rough sleeping, homelessness, support needs, and interactions with public service. It was then updated before being run again in early 2025.

These reports (headline findings, expanded findings on women, expanded findings on mental health, and expanded findings from free-test responses) present analysis of the 2025 responses. Taken together, the published findings provide a fuller and more rounded picture of the circumstances rough sleepers face, the pathways that can lead into rough sleeping, and the kinds of support that may help prevent, reduce or end it.

Across the series, the evidence shows that rough sleeping is closely connected to a wide range of overlapping challenges, including poor mental and physical health, housing instability, financial insecurity, experiences of abuse and trauma, and barriers to accessing the right services at the right time.

A consistent message across these reports is that there is no single route into rough sleeping, and no single solution. Respondents’ experiences underline the importance of stable accommodation, joined-up services, and support that is person-centred, flexible, and delivered with dignity and respect. They also show the value of combining quantitative analysis with qualitative evidence so that patterns in the data can be understood alongside the lived realities behind them.

The findings from this research alongside other research and evaluation conducted by the department have informed ​​A National Plan to End Homelessness​ and the analytical annex to the plan. MHCLG will continue to develop the evidence in this area, including through the Test and Learn programme and systems-wide evaluation, and work collaboratively to fill remaining gaps. MHCLG’s plans for improving data and evidence on homelessness and rough sleeping are set out in Section 5 of the Analytical annex. 

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this research. I am especially grateful to the people who took the time to share their experiences through the questionnaire and to all the homelessness services and local authorities who made this possible.

I would also like to thank the team who lead the research and analysis especially Matt Pike, Kirsty Hendry, Aislinn McDonagh, Hema Pandya and Lucy Spurling along with the wider Homelessness and Disadvantages research team and wider analytical and policy colleagues who provided feedback on drafts and quality assurance of the analysis and the research team from Verian who conducted the fieldwork. Their contribution has strengthened the evidence base on rough sleeping and will help inform future policy, service design, and ongoing work to improve outcomes for people facing homelessness and rough sleeping.

Stephen Aldridge

Director for Analysis and Data & Chief Economist

Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government