Accredited official statistics

Statutory homelessness in England: April to June 2025

Published 16 October 2025

Applies to England

1. Main findings 

The latest April to June 2025 statistics show that the number of households owed a homelessness duty has fallen since the same time the previous year. Note that because of seasonal changes, we typically compare to previous year’s figures rather than previous quarter’s. 

Successful outcomes are higher in April to June 2025, than the previous year for households ending a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness.  

The number of households where a main duty has ended is up compared to the same period the previous year. This also included an increase in the number of households whose main duty ended due to accepting an offer of settled accommodation. 

The number of households in temporary accommodation on the 30 June 2025 is at record levels, following continuing increases. This is also true for the number of families, and the total children in temporary accommodation. However, the number of families in B&Bs, and families in B&Bs for more than 6 weeks, have been falling each quarter since 30 June 2024. Households in self-contained nightly paid accommodation have increased since last year and now account for a higher proportion of all households in temporary accommodation.

In April to June 2025:

• 86,370 households had an initial assessment, down 6.7% from April to June 2024. From these initial assessments, 78,630 were assessed as owed a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness. 

• 36,160 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness and therefore owed a prevention duty which is down 4.6% from the same quarter last year. This includes 6,530 households threatened with homelessness due to service of a Section 21 notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy – a decrease of 8.7% from the same quarter last year. 

• 42,470 households were initially assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty, down 9.4% from the same quarter last year. Households with children owed a relief duty decreased 12.6% from the same quarter last year to 11,000 households in April to June 2025. 

• 16,440 households were accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, down 11.5% from April to June 2024. This mirrors the decrease in the number of households with children owed a relief duty this quarter (12.6%) and last quarter (5.4%) compared to previous year. 

• On 30 June 2025, 132,410 households were in temporary accommodation, which is an increase of 7.6% from 30 June 2024. 

• Households with children in temporary accommodation increased by 7.5% to 84,240, and single households in temporary accommodation increased by 7.9% to 48,170.

2. About our statistics 

This is the quarterly statistics release for statutory homelessness assessments and activities in England between 1 April and 30 June 2025, and households in temporary accommodation under the statutory homelessness duty in England on 30 June 2025. Statutory homelessness concerns duties placed on local authorities to take reasonable steps to prevent and relieve homelessness to eligible houses. 

Short definitions for technical terms can be found in the glossary section of this release. 

The full definitions are provided in the technical note.

Uses and limitations

These statistics can be used: 

• To count the number of homelessness duties accepted by local authorities for this quarter and to compare local authorities and regions in England. 

• To assess changes in the number of homelessness duties since 2018. 

• To understand the causes, circumstances, and characteristics of households owed a duty for this quarter. 

• To understand the number of households and the characteristics of Temporary Accommodation. 

These statistics are not suitable: 

• To estimate the total number of people sleeping rough. 

• To estimate the total number of people sofa surfing, those in recreational or organised protest, those in squats, or traveller campsites. 

• To estimate the households that have yet to make a homelessness application and those who aren’t eligible. 

• To compare with other countries in the UK. 

• To compare to figures before 2018 recorded via the P1E collection. 

3. Statutory homelessness initial assessments and outcomes 

Initial assessments 

At the beginning of 2024, the number of households owed support to prevent or relieve homelessness reached record levels. Levels in April to June 2025 are now lower than this peak and have reduced compared to the same time last year.  

Chart 1: Number of households owed a prevention or relief duty, April to June 2019 to April to June 2025

Note: Time series data charts mark the current period and the same period last year using vertical lines. Changes are typically compared from the same period the previous year, rather than the previous quarter because of seasonal trends.

86,370 households were initially assessed by their local authority to determine if they were owed a statutory homelessness duty, down 6.7% from April to June 2024. 

From these initial assessments, 78,630 were assessed as owed a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness. 

The number of households assessed as at risk of becoming homelessness and therefore owed a prevention duty is down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year to 36,160. This includes 6,530 households threatened with homelessness due to service of a Section 21 notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy – a decrease of 8.7% from the same quarter last year. 

42,470 households were initially assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty, down 9.4% from the same quarter last year. 

Households with children owed a relief duty decreased 12.6% from the same quarter last year to 11,000 households in April to June 2025.

Prevention duty outcomes 

Over half of the prevention duties ending in April to June 2025, ended because the household was able to secure accommodation for 6 months or more. This is a higher proportion compared to the same periods in 2023 and 2024, however remains lower than the same period across 2018 to 2021 Chart 3 shows a visualisation of these rates over time.

Chart 2: Percentage of households for which prevention or relief duty ended by outcome in April to June 2025

Chart 3: Percentage of households for which prevention or relief duty ended with secured accommodation April to June 2019 to April to June 2025

In April to June 2025, prevention duty ended for 35,410 households, down 0.8% from the same quarter last year. 19,070 or 53.9% ended this quarter because the household secured accommodation for 6 months or more and their homelessness had been prevented. This is up 2.1 percentage points compared to last year. 

Prevention activity e.g. negotiation work to allow the household to remain in their existing accommodation, or help with financial payments to reduce arrears, resulted in 6,570 households being able to remain in their existing home. This is 34.5% of those securing accommodation for six or more months, down 1.7 percentage points from this time last year. 

More than a quarter (26.2% or 9,280) of households whose prevention duty ended were homeless at the end of the prevention duty and were subsequently owed relief duty. This is a similar proportion compared to the same quarter last year (down 0.3 percentage points).

Relief duty outcomes 

Just under a third of households secured accommodation at the end of relief duty, this is a higher proportion compared to the same periods in 2023 and 2024, however remains lower than the same period across 2018 to 2022, a visualisation of these rates over time are shown in Chart 3. The proportion of households securing accommodation at the end of relief is lower than for those owed a duty before becoming homeless, at the prevention duty stage.  

In April to June 2025, relief duties ended for 52,610 households, which is down 6.6% from the same quarter last year. 

26,220, or 49.8% of households had their relief duty end because their homelessness had not been relieved within 56 days, meaning their local authority would need to assess whether a main duty would have to be owed, down 2.7 percentage points from the same quarter last year. 

This outcome was followed by 17,460 or 33.2% of households whose relief duty ended because they had secured accommodation for at least 6 months, up 3.6 percentage points from the same quarter last year. Of these, 76.6% (13,380) were adult only households, up 1.7 percentage points from the same quarter last year.

4. Main duty decisions and outcomes 

Main duty decisions 

The number of households owed a main duty fell by 11.5% compared to April to June 2024, mirroring the decrease in main duty assessments in the same period. The proportion of households receiving each decision at main duty assessment was very similar to the same period the previous year. 

Chart 4: Number of households by decision of main duty assessment from April to June 2024 to April to June 2025

In April to June 2025, local authorities made 25,090 main duty decisions for eligible households: 

• For 65.5% (16,440) of all main duty decisions, main duties were accepted, as the household was judged to be homeless, with priority need, and unintentionally homeless. This is a similar proportion compared to April to June 2024. 

• 1,080 decisions were that a main duty was not owed as the household was assessed to be homeless and have priority need but judged as intentionally homeless. 

• 7,350 were not owed a main duty as the household was assessed as homeless but with no priority need, representing 29.3% of all main duty decisions in the quarter.  

• 220 were not owed a main duty as the household was assessed as not homeless. These decisions represented 0.9% of all main duty decisions in the quarter. 

The number of households with children owed a main duty fell by 12.7% from the same quarter last year to 9,530 households. This reflects the trend in preceding quarters on the number of households with children owed a main duty falling as fewer are homeless.

Main duty outcomes 

More households had a main duty come to an end in April to June 2025 compared to the same period in the previous year. This was also true for the number of households securing accommodation at the end of the duty, but the proportion of household accepting accommodation offers at the end of main duty is slightly lower than the previous year. 

In April to June 2025, 13,830 households had their main homelessness duty come to an end, up 11.9% from April to June 2024. Of these households, 10,770 accepted an offer of settled accommodation, up 11.3% from the same quarter last year. Households accepting an accommodation offer represented 77.9% of all main duties ending in the quarter, down 0.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year. 

5. Temporary accommodation 

Total households in temporary accommodation continues to rise and has surpassed previous record levels for households with and without children. The number of households with children in B&B, and resident more than 6 weeks have reduced since the same period last year.   

Chart 5: Number of households in temporary accommodation since 30 June 2019 to 30 June 2025 by household composition

132,410 households were in temporary accommodation on 30 June 2025, up 1.2% from the previous quarter and up 7.6% from the same time last year. 

The number of adult only households in temporary accommodation rose 0.6% from the previous quarter and rose 7.9% from the same time last year to 48,170. 

Overall, 84,240 households or 63.6% of households in temporary accommodation included dependent children, with 172,420 dependent children living in temporary accommodation. Households with children increased 1.5% from the previous quarter and increased 7.5% from 30 June 2024. 

On 30 June 2025, there were 20.3 households living in temporary accommodation per 1,000 households in London, compared with 2.8 households per 1,000 in the Rest of England. 

Newham London Borough had the highest rate of temporary accommodation in London with 59 households per 1,000 households. 

Slough Borough Council had the highest rate outside London with 24.8 households per 1,000 households.

Map 1: The number of households in temporary accommodation per thousand households across England. This map shows that the highest rates of temporary accommodation are in London and other urban hotspots

Types of temporary accommodation 

Chart 6: Number of households in temporary accommodation on 30 June 2025 by temporary accommodation type and household composition

Of the households in temporary accommodation on 30 June 2025, 14,250 were living in bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation, down 22.4% from the same time last year. These accounted for 10.8% of all households in temporary accommodation, down 4.2 percentage points. Of these households in B&B, 10,910 (76.6%) were adult only households, down 12.4% from the same time last year. The number of households in B&B accommodation with dependent children decreased 43.5% from the same time last year to 3,340 households or 23.4% of households in B&B; this proportion is down 8.7 percentage points compared to this time last year. 

Chart 7: Number of households with children in B&B temporary accommodation on 30 June 2019 to 30 June 2025

2,070 households with children in B&B accommodation had been resident for more than the statutory limit of 6 weeks. This is down 45.1% from the peak of 3,770 on 30 June 2024, and down 10.0% from 2,300 on 31 March 2025.

Length of time in temporary accommodation 

Data on the length of time households spend in temporary accommodation show there are differences between households with and without children in duration and type of temporary accommodation placements.

Chart 8: Length of time in TA for households in TA on 31 March 2025, by households with and without children and type of accommodation

The most common length of time for households with children to have spent in temporary accommodation is 2 to 5 years (18,940 households or 22.5%). Of these 32.6% (or 6,170) were in nightly paid self-contained accommodation. The most common length of time for adult only households to remain in temporary accommodation is less than 6 months, 33.0% (15,910 households). Of these 36.8% (or 5,860) were in bed and breakfast accommodation.

Out of area temporary accommodation placements 

42,080 households in temporary accommodation were in accommodation in a different local authority district. Households classed as out of area could also include those where a duty is owed but no accommodation has been secured (for example because the household arranges to stay with family or friends temporarily), where this has been recorded as being in another local authority area.  

Households in out of area temporary accommodation placements account for 1.7 out of every thousand households living in England. 81.5% of these out of area placements were from London authorities. 

In London, the areas placing the highest rate of temporary accommodation placements out of area (per 1000 households in the area population) were Newham London Borough (23.9), Lambeth London Borough (22.0), and Westminster City Council (21.9). Outside of London, those making the highest rates of out of area placements were Manchester City Council (4.9), Oadby & Wigston Borough Council (4.3), and Adur District Council (1.0). 

We have recently begun publishing additional data on the destinations of out of area placements, as reported by the sending local authority. 

36,310 (or 86.3%) out of area placements were recorded as being in an area within the same region as the original authority (see Table 1 for regional figures). 

Households placed in a different region are most often placed in neighbouring regions. For example, most out of area placements from London are to other London boroughs (85.7%), the South East (8.4%), and the East of England (5.2%).

Table 1: Out of area placements across regions 

Region	Total Out of Area	Percentage within the same Region
North East	160	100.0%
North West	2,010	99.5%
Yorkshire and The Humber	50	80.0%
East Midlands	290	82.8%
West Midlands	880	97.7%
East of England	1,210	81.0%
London	34,280	85.7%
South East	2,890	81.0%
South West	310	96.8%

Note: Moves to the same or a different region gives a broad illustration of the proximity of the placement to the authority where temporary accommodation is owed. However, in cases where authorities sit closer to regional boundaries, some placements made to neighbouring regions may be comparable to moves to other areas within the same region.

6. Causes and circumstances of homelessness 

Chart 9: Percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by their reason for loss of last settled home in April to June 2025

Reasons for homelessness for households assessed as owed a prevention duty 

In April to June 2025, ‘end of private rented Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST)’ was the most common reason for households being owed a prevention duty, accounting for more than a third of households owed a prevention duty.  

13,430 or 37.1% of households were owed a prevention duty between April to June 2025 due to the ‘end of private rented Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST)’, down 13.9% than the same period last year. This proportion is down 4 percentage points compared to April to June 2024.  

The most common recorded reasons households were owed a prevention duty due to the end of an AST were: landlord wishing to sell or relet the property (9,020 households), landlord wishing to sell the property (6,700), followed by landlord wishing to relet the property (2,320). 

Since the same period last year there has been a decrease across all the reasons households were owed a prevention duty due to the end of an AST, the largest decrease was in rent arrears due to an increase in rent, which fell by 46.5% from the same quarter last year from 430 to 230 households.  

The second most common reason for those owed a prevention duty was family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate, accounting for 8,570 or 23.7% of households owed a prevention duty, down 1.2% from the same quarter last year.

Other notable changes for households owed a prevention duty since the same period, last year include an increase of 66.0% in households required to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support to 1,610 households.

Reasons for homelessness for households assessed as owed a relief duty 

For households owed a relief duty, family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate was the most common reason for homelessness. These households made up over a quarter of those initially assessed as owed a relief duty in the quarter, a similar proportion to the same quarter last year.  

12,340 or 29.1% households were owed a relief duty between April to June 2025 due to family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate, down 11.2% from the same quarter last year but a similar proportion (29.1%). 

The second most common reason for those owed a relief duty was domestic abuse, accounting for 7,000 or 16.5% of households owed a relief duty. The number of households has decreased by 5.4% since the same quarter last year but the proportion is up 0.7 percentage points.

Households owed relief duty who were required to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support decreased by 13.9% compared to April to June 2024 to 3,350 households, this contrasts with the increase in households owed a prevention duty.

This suggests those leaving asylum support accommodation were accessing support earlier in the April to June 2025 period, and therefore more are initially owed a prevention duty and fewer initially owed at the relief stage. 

 Current accommodation 

Those assessed as owed a prevention duty were most commonly in private rented sector accommodation at the time of application, households initially owed a relief duty were most commonly living with family.

Chart 10: Percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by their accommodation at the time of approach in April to June 2025

The most common type of accommodation at the time of application for those owed a prevention duty was in the private rented sector (43.9%), down 11.4% from April to June 2024 to 15,880 households. The proportion of households owed a prevention duty approaching from the private rented sector has also fallen compared to the previous year (down 3.4 percentage points). 

The most common type of accommodation for households owed a relief duty was living with family (22.8%), which fell by 11.9% from April to June 2024 to 9,680 households, but remains a similar proportion to the previous year (down 0.7 percentage points).   

The number of households owed a relief duty who were ‘rough sleeping’ on approach fell by 6.5% from April to June 2024 to 4,180 households, similarly those reporting ‘no fixed abode’ fell 6.2% to 4,970 households. 

The percentage reported as ‘Other/not known’ accommodation at the time of application has reduced by 15.1% for prevention duties and reduced by 8.4% for relief duties.

Duty to refer 

9.1% or 7,850 of the 86,370 assessments made were as a result of referrals from public bodies under the duty to refer. 

Of the assessments carried out from a duty to refer referral, 92.0% resulted in a homelessness duty. 

Criminal justice system organisations made the most referrals to homelessness services under the duty to refer that resulted in an assessment with 3,200 assessments (40.8% of total assessments from a duty to refer referral), a decrease of 3.0% from April to June 2024. 

7. Demographics 

Household composition 

During this quarter, in line with previous trends, adult only households were more likely to have homeless applications taken when already homeless and so are owed a relief duty (58.7%), whereas households with children are more likely to have an application taken when threatened with homelessness (56.1%). 

In April to June 2025, 53,560 adult only households were owed a prevention or relief duty, down 4.5% from April to June 2024. 

The number of households with children owed a prevention or relief duty decreased 12.8% from April to June 2024 to 25,030. 

Age of lead applicants 

Age of lead applicants of all households owed a duty 

For households owed a prevention or relief duty the most common age of lead applicants was 25 to 34 accounting for 27.6% or 21,730 households owed a duty in April to June 2025. 

Chart 11: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by age group in April to June 2025 compared to April to June 2024

The largest increases were for the age groups 65 to 74 up 6.2% to 2,920 and 75 and over up 5.8% to 1,090. 

On the other hand, those aged 16 to 17, 18 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 fell by 5.9%, 5.3%, 10.9%, 9.3%, 5.8% and 2.6% respectively. 

Age comparison for households owed a duty, households in temporary accommodation, and the England population 

In this quarterly publication and going forward we are now publishing information on the age of lead applicants in temporary accommodation. Detailed information can be found in Table TA5 in the detailed Local authority level data files produced with this publication. 

This enables comparison of demographic characteristics of all households assessed as owed a duty in April to June 2025 and those in temporary accommodation on 30 June, versus the same characteristics in the general population in England (Table 2). 

Compared to the England population, lead applicants who were aged: 

• 16 to 17, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, or 75 and over were underrepresented among households newly owed a duty as well as those in temporary accommodation  

• 25 to 34, 35 to 44, or 45 to 54 were overrepresented among households newly owed a duty as well as those in temporary accommodation  

• 18 to 24 were overrepresented among households newly owed a duty but less so for those in temporary accommodation

Table 2: Age breakdowns for lead applicants of households owed a homelessness duty, households in temporary accommodation with comparison to population age estimates (in percentages) 

Age	Households owed a duty	Households in temporary accommodation	Population %
16 to 17	0.61%	0.06%	2.29%
18 to 24	17.37%	9.27%	8.32%
25 to 34	27.64%	26.45%	13.57%
35 to 44	25.30%	31.43%	13.06%
45 to 54	14.99%	20.64%	13.30%
55 to 64	8.93%	8.69%	12.50%
65 to 74	3.71%	2.58%	9.85%
75 and over	1.39%	0.87%	8.56%
Not known	0.06%	0.01%	0.00%
Total	100.00%	100.00%	81.44%

Table note: 

• Population estimates used in this release are reproduced with reference to Census 2021 data, from Office for National Statistics. 

• Age is reported at lead applicant level for households owed a homelessness duty and those in temporary accommodation whereas census population data is reported on an individual level. These comparisons do not consider ages of all household members of those owed a homelessness duty or in temporary accommodation.

Ethnicity of lead applicants 

Most households owed a prevention or relief duty were where the lead applicant was White (61.5%), followed by households where the lead applicant was Black (12.5%) or Asian (8.4%).

Chart 12: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by ethnicity in April to June 2025 compared to April to June 2024^{[footnote 1]}

The number of households owed a prevention or relief duty where the lead applicant was Black increased by 0.3%, Asian fell by 4.2%, Mixed fell by 8.0% and White fell by 8.5%. 

Ethnicity comparison for households owed a duty, households in temporary accommodation, and the England population 

In this quarterly publication and going forward we are now publishing information on the ethnicity of lead applicants in temporary accommodation. Detailed information can be found in Table TA6 in the detailed Local authority level data files produced with this publication. 

This enables comparison of demographic characteristics of all households assessed as owed a duty in April to June 2025 and those in temporary accommodation on 30 June, versus the same characteristics in the general population in England (Table 3). 

Compared to the England population, lead applicants who identified as: 

• Asian, or Asian British were underrepresented among households newly owed a duty but overrepresented among households in temporary accommodation 

• Black, Black British, Caribbean or African or from an Other ethnic group were overrepresented among households newly owed a duty as well as those in temporary accommodation 

• Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups were slightly overrepresented among households newly owed a duty and more so for those in temporary accommodation

• White were underrepresented among households newly owed a duty as well as those in temporary accommodation  

However, lead applicants where ethnicity was ‘Not known’ represents a relatively high proportion of households owed a duty and in temporary accommodation and meaning some groups may be more or less representative of the England population than the data suggests.

Table 3: Ethnicity breakdowns for lead applicants of households owed a homelessness duty, households in temporary accommodation with comparison to population ethnicity estimates (in percentages) 

Ethnicity	Households owed a duty	Households in temporary accommodation	Population %
Asian, or Asian British	8.4%	13.5%	9.6%
Black, Black British, Caribbean or African	12.5%	22.6%	4.2%
Mixed / Multiple Ethnic Groups	3.6%	4.4%	3.0%
White	61.5%	35.5%	81.0%
Other	6.4%	8.9%	2.2%
Not known	7.6%	15.1%	0.00%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.00%

Table note: 

• Population estimates used in this release are reproduced with reference to Census 2021 data, from Office for National Statistics. 

• Ethnicity is reported at lead applicant level for households owed a homelessness duty and those in temporary accommodation whereas census population data is reported on an individual level. From these data it is unclear whether there is more than one person in the household and if people that identify as a particular ethnicity are more likely to live in larger households than others.

Employment status of lead applicants 

The most common employment status of lead applicants for households owed prevention or relief duties was ‘Registered unemployed’, accounting for 36.5% or 28,730 households in April to June 2025.

Chart 13: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by employment status in April to June 2025 compared to April to June 2024

The employment status that saw the largest increases in lead applicants of homelessness duty were those who were retired up 6.4% to 2,810. 

Whilst those who were in part-time work fell 13.2% to 7,410, in full-time work fell 12.3% to 9,730 and students or in training fell 12.1% to 1,160.

Household support needs 

Over half, 59.7%, of all households owed a duty to prevent of relieve homelessness in April to June 2025 were recorded as having one or more additional support needs. This is a higher proportion compared to the previous year (up 4.3 percentage points).  

Chart 14: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by the top 6 support needs of households in April to June 2025 compared to April to June 2024

Of all households owed either a prevention or relief duty, 46,960 or 59.7% of households identified as having one or more support needs. 

The most common support need was for those with history of mental health problems, accounting for 22,520 or 28.6% of households owed a homelessness duty. The second most common was for those with physical ill health and disability , accounting for 17,720 or 22.5% of households owed a duty. 

Notable changes this quarter include among households with support needs due to: former asylum seekers up 25.3% from the same quarter last year, to 3910 households (5.0%), those of old age up 20.3% from the same quarter last year, to 1840 households (2.3%). and young parents requiring support to manage independently up 19.5% from the same quarter last year, to 980 households (1.2%).

8. Glossary 

Prevention duty: Local authorities may deliver their prevention duty through any activities aimed at preventing a household threatened with homelessness within 56 days from becoming homeless. 

This would involve activities to enable an applicant to remain in their current home or find alternative accommodation in order to prevent them from becoming homeless. 

The duty lasts for up to 56 days but may be extended if the local authority is continuing with efforts to prevent homelessness. 

Relief duty: The relief duty is owed to households that are already homeless on approaching a local authority, and so require help to secure settled accommodation. 

The duty lasts 56 days and can only be extended by a local authority if the household is not owed the main homelessness duty. 

Section 21 notice: A Section 21 notice is the form a landlord must give a tenant to start the process to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. 

This is recorded alongside initial assessments. 

Main Duty: The ‘main’ homelessness duty describes the duty a local authority has towards an applicant who is unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance and has priority need. 

These households are only owed a main duty if they did not secure accommodation in the prevention or relief stage, and so is not owed to those ‘threatened with homelessness’. 

In addition a minimum of 56 days of assistance must have elapsed from a household approaching the local authority to being owed a main duty. 

Priority need: The legislation states that some categories of applicants have a priority need for accommodation if homeless, whereas others do not. 

Applicants who have priority need include households with dependent children or a pregnant woman; those who are homeless due to fire, flood or other emergency; those who are particularly vulnerable due to ill health, disability or old age; those having been in custody or care; or those who have become homeless due to violence or the threat of violence. 

A full explanation of priority need groups and assessments is contained in Chapter 8 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance. 

Temporary Accommodation: Temporary Accommodation is the term used to describe accommodation secured by a local housing authority under their statutory homelessness functions. 

The majority of households in temporary accommodation have been placed under the main homelessness duty, but temporary accommodation is also provided during the relief stage to households who the local authority has reason to believe may have priority need, or on an interim basis in other circumstances such as pending the outcome of a review on a homelessness decision. 

Rough sleeping: People sleeping in the open air (such as on the streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments) or other places not designed for habitation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations, or ‘bashes’ which are makeshift shelters, often comprised of cardboard boxes). 

Rough sleepers in this publication may have slept rough one night or across several nights. 

Rough sleeping at the time of Local Authority Approach: Rough sleepers are defined as those who were, in the judgement of the assessor, rough sleeping when they approached a local authority for help. 

History of Rough Sleeping: This is a support need based on a history of sleeping rough and does not mean that the household was sleeping rough at the time of approach to the local authority. 

Duty to Refer: Since 1 October 2018, duty to refer has required specified public bodies to refer, with consent, users of their service who they think may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a local housing authority of the individual’s choice. 

Single households: A term used for households without children, which will include couples and households with two or more adults. 

Single adult households: Single adult households are a subset of single households, where the household comprises just one individual adult. 

Support needs: areas of additional needs that mean the household requires support to acquire and sustain accommodation, giving an indication of the additional services local authorities need to provide to prevent an individual becoming homeless or to stop the cycle of repeat homelessness. 

Local authorities report as many support needs that apply to each household. 

9. Technical information 

This release reports on data that is collected quarterly from local authorities in England via the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection. 

This method of collection was introduced in 2018 alongside significant homelessness legislation; before this statutory homelessness was recorded in a previous collection called the P1E. 

Most of our figures are an aggregate count of households who reached different stages of homelessness duties during the reported quarter. 

Temporary accommodation is different and is a snapshot of the last day of the quarter.

Our published outputs 

On the Statutory homelessness in England April to June 2025 page, we also publish: 

• a Technical note: which provides key definitions and information on our statistics methodology 

• detailed local-authority level data tables

• performance dashboard: which provides a high-level summary of homeless figures by local authority

• statistics use, improvements and user engagement note

An England level data time series and revised tables from previous quarters are available on our Tables on homelessness page. 

Assessment of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics 

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in October 2023. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. 

Please note that Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. 

More information on the UK statistical system is available via the UK Statistics Authority. 

Information about statistics at MHCLG is available via the Department’s website 

Release information and contact 

Release date: 16 October 2025 

 Date of next quarterly release: February 2025  

Date of annual release: 27 November 2025  

Contact: 0303 444 8433 / homelessnessstats@communities.gov.uk Responsible Statistician: Madeha Asim

Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 / NewsDesk@communities.gov.uk 

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1. Other ethnic group is defined as Arab or any other ethnic group that is not White, Asian, Black or Mixed ethnic group.  ↩