Accredited official statistics

Statutory homelessness in England: January to March 2025

Published 22 July 2025

Applies to England

1. Main findings

The latest statistics show an increase in duties owed from the previous quarter, in line with the typical seasonal pattern which sees peaks between January to March. Because of this, we typically compare to figures on homelessness duties to the same time the previous year. Compared to the record levels in January to March 2024, the number of households owed a homelessness duty have now fallen .

Of those households owed a duty to prevent homelessness, the proportion securing accommodation at the end of the duty in January to March 2025 is higher than the same period the previous year.

The proportion of relief duties ending in January to March 2025 where the household has been able to secure accommodation has also increased compared to the same period the previous year.

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 31 March 2025 is at record levels, following continuing increases. This is also true for the number of families in temporary accommodation. However, the number of families in B&Bs, and those in B&Bs for more than 6 weeks, have been falling since 30 June 2024 and are lower than the previous quarter and the same time the previous year.

In January to March 2025:

• 90,780 households were initially assessed by their local authority to determine whether they were owed a statutory homelessness duty, down 6.3% from January to March 2024. From these initial assessments, 83,450 were assessed as owed a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness.
• 37,610 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness, and therefore owed a prevention duty which is down 4.5% from the same quarter last year. This includes 6,640 households threatened with homelessness due to service of a Section 21 notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy – a decrease of 1.9% from the same quarter last year, although accounting for a similar proportion of prevention duties.
• 45,840 households were initially assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty, down 7.1% from the same quarter last year. Households with children owed a relief duty decreased 9.1% from the same quarter last year to 11,540 households in January to March 2025.
• 16,430 households were accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, down 7.9% from January to March 2024.

On 31 March 2025

• 131,140 households were in temporary accommodation, which is an increase of 11.8% from 31 March 2024. Households with children in temporary accommodation increased by 11.6% to 83,150, whilst single households increased by 12.0% to 47,990 since 31 March 2024.

• 3,870 households with children were in B&B style temporary accommodation, down 30.1% from 31 March 2024. 2,300 of these had been resident for more than the statutory 6-week limit, down 29.0% since 31 March 2024.

2. About our statistics

This is the quarterly statistics release for statutory homelessness assessments and activities in England between 1 January and 31 March 2025, and households in temporary accommodation under the statutory homelessness duty in England on 31 March 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.

Data published for the latest quarter is provisional and subject to revision at the following quarter and at the end of the financial year as part of the annual publication. Typically, this means there are some small changes to figures compared to when they are first published.

For more information including full definitions, and our data revisions process please see published technical note published alongside this release.

2.1 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

3.1 Initial assessments

At the beginning of 2024, the number of households owed support to prevent or relieve homelessness reached record levels. Levels in January to March 2025 are now lower than the peak a year ago, even though there has been a quarterly increase. This increase is often seen in January to March due to a seasonal trend in applications.

Chart 1: Number of households owed a prevention or relief duty, April to June 2019 to January to March 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 due to the effect of seasonal trends.

90,780 households were initially assessed by their local authority to determine if they were owed a statutory homelessness duty, down 6.3% from January to March 2024. From these initial assessments, 83,450 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 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year to 37,610. This includes 6,640 households threatened with homelessness due to service of a Section 21 notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy – a decrease of 1.9% from the same quarter last year. Despite a decrease in overall numbers, duties owed due to the service of a valid section 21 notice account for a similar proportion of prevention duties this quarter (17.7%) compared to the same time last year (17.2%).

45,840 households were initially assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty, down 7.1% from the same quarter last year. Households with children owed a relief duty decreased 9.1% from the same quarter last year to 11,540 households in January to March 2025.

3.2 Prevention duty outcomes

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

Over half of the prevention duties ending in January to March 2025, ended because the household was able to secure accommodation for 6 months or more. This is now a higher proportion compared to the same periods in 2023 and 2024.

In January to March 2025, prevention duty ended for 35,990 households, up 2.5% from the same quarter last year. 18,520 or 51.5% ended this quarter because the household secured accommodation for 6 months or more and their homelessness had been prevented. This is up 0.8 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 6,710 households being able to remain in their existing home. This is 36.2% of those securing accommodation for 6 or more months, down 0.7 percentage points from this time last year.

More than a quarter (26.8% or 9,660) of households whose prevention duty ended were homeless at the end of the prevention duty and were subsequently owed relief duty. This is down 0.4 percentage points than the same quarter last year.

3.3 Relief duty outcomes

Just under a third of households secured accommodation at the end of relief duty, lower than for those who had approached their authority before becoming homeless, at the prevention duty stage. This proportion has increased compared to the same quarter the previous year.

In January to March 2025, relief duties ended for 52,670 households, which is down 2.6% from the same quarter last year, mirroring the overall decrease in homelessness assessments.

27,000, or 51.3% 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 0.2 percentage points from the same quarter last year.

This outcome was followed by 16,410 or 31.2% of households whose relief duty ended because they had secured accommodation for at least 6 months, up 1.1 percentage points from the same quarter last year. Of these, 76.9% (12,620) were adult only households, up 1.5 percentage points from the same quarter last year.

4. Main duty decisions and outcomes

4.1 Main duty decisions

The number of households owed a main duty fell by 7.9% compared to January to March 2024, mirroring the overall decrease in main duty assessments over the period. However the proportion of households receiving each decision at main duty assessment were very similar to the same period the previous year.

Chart 3: Number of households by decision of main duty assessment from January to March 2024 to January to March 2025

In January to March 2025, local authorities made 25,220 main duty decisions for eligible households:

• For 65.1% (16,430) 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 January to March 2024 .
• 1,160 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. The proportion is largely the same compared to the same quarter last year.
• 7,410 were not owed a main duty as the household was assessed as homeless but with no priority need, representing 29.4% of all main duty decisions in the quarter, largely the same proportion as the same quarter last year.
• 210 were not owed a main duty as the household was assessed as not homeless. These decisions represented 0.8% of all main duty decisions in the quarter.

The number of households with children owed a main duty fell by 9.0% from the same quarter last year to 8,330 households.

The number of households owed a main duty who were homeless and have priority need due to domestic abuse had increased by 3.8% to 1,380 from January to March 2024.

4.2 Main duty outcomes

More households had a main duty come to an end in January to March 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.

In January to March 2025, 13,120 households had their main homelessness duty come to an end, up 13.3% from January to March 2024. Of these households, 10,190 accepted an offer of settled accommodation, up 11.0% from the same quarter last year. Households accepting an accommodation offer represented 77.7% of all main duties ending in the quarter, but this proportion was down 1.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

5. Temporary accommodation

Total households in temporary accommodation continues to rise and is at record levels, both for households with and without children. Compared to the same period the previous year the number of households with children in B&B, and those in B&B over 6 weeks, have reduced.

Chart 4: Number of households in temporary accommodation since 30 June 2019 to 31 March 2025 by household composition

131,140 households were in temporary accommodation on 31 March 2025, up 2.6% from the previous quarter and up 11.8% from the same time last year.

The number of adult only households in temporary accommodation rose 2.6% from the previous quarter and rose 12.0% from the same time last year to 47,990.

Overall, 83,150 households or 63.4% of households in temporary accommodation included dependent children, with 169,050 dependent children living in temporary accommodation. Households with children increased 2.6% from the previous quarter and increased 11.6% from 31 March 2024.

On 31 March 2025, there were 19.9 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 57.7 households per 1,000 households.

Slough Borough Council had the highest rate outside London with 23.8 households per 1,000 households.

Map 1: The number of households in temporary accommodation 31 March 2025 per thousand households across England.

This map shows that the highest rates of temporary accommodation are in London and other urban hotspots.

5.1 Types of temporary accommodation

Chart 5: Number of households in temporary accommodation on 31 March 2025 by temporary accommodation type and household composition

Of the households in temporary accommodation on 31 March 2025, 15,760 were living in bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation, down 11.2% from the same time last year. These accounted for 12.0% of all households in temporary accommodation, down 3.1 percentage points. Of these households in B&B, 11,890 (75.4%) were adult only households, down 2.6% from the same time last year. The number of households in B&B accommodation with dependent children decreased 30.1% from the same time last year to 3,870 households or 24.6% of households in B&B; this proportion is down 6.7 percentage points compared to this time last year.

Chart 6: Number of households with children in B&B temporary accommodation on 30 June 2019 to 31 March 2025

2,300 households with children in B&B accommodation had been resident for more than the statutory limit of 6 weeks. This is down 29.0% from 3,240 on 31 March 2024, and down 26.0% from 3,110 in the previous quarter.

5.2 Additional data published on temporary accommodation

We have recently introduced 6 additional tables on temporary accommodation to our quarterly release based on feedback from our users on the importance of this data. These are:

• TA4 - Number of households by type of temporary accommodation provided and length of time
• TA4c - Number of households with children by type of temporary accommodation provided and length of time
• TA4s – Number of adult only households by type of temporary accommodation provided and length of time
• TA7 - Average length of stay in temporary accommodation by type of temporary accommodation
• TA8 - Number of under 18’s in temporary accommodation by age in English local authorities

We are also publishing a new table this quarter:

• TA9 - Number of households in out of area temporary accommodation placement by destination, as reported by the sending authority

5.2.1 Length of time in TA

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 TA placements. The most common length of time for households with children to have spent in TA is 5+ years. Of these 45.9% were in private sector accommodation. The most common length of time for adult only households to remain in TA is Less than 6 months. Of these 40.3% were in bed and breakfast accommodation.

Chart 7: Length of time in TA for households in TA on 31 March 2025, by households with and without children and type of accommodation

5.2.2 Out of area temporary accommodation placements

41,560 households in temporary accommodation were placed in a different local authority district to where their main duty was owed. Households classed as out of area could also include those where a duty is owed but no accommodation has been secured, 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. 81.3% 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 thousand households in area, were Newham London Borough (23.0), Westminster City Council (20.7), and Southwark London Borough (15.5). Outside of London, those making the highest rates of out of area placements were Manchester City Council (4.8), Adur District Council (4.4), and Oadby & Wigston Borough Council (3.9).

We are now publishing additional data on the English regions that out of area placements have been made to, by the local authority or region that they have been placed from (Additional temporary accommodation breakdowns: Table TA9). 35,760 (or 86.0%) 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.

Example: London out of area placements destinations

• 28,740 households (or 85.1%) to other London boroughs
• 2,990 (8.8%) to South East
• 1,870 (5.5%) to East of England
• 100 (0.3%) to West Midlands
• 60 (0.2%) to East Midlands
• 10 (<0.1%) to North West

Table 1: Out of Area Placements Across Regions

Area	Total Out of Area Placements	Percentage Placed within Same Region
North East	180	100.0%
North West	1,960	99.5%
Yorkshire and The Humber	40	75.0%
East Midlands	310	83.9%
West Midlands	850	97.6%
East of England	1,300	82.3%
London	33,790	85.1%
South East	2,790	85.3%
South West	330	97.0%
England Total	41,560	86.0%

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

The overall number of households assessed as owed a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness has decreased compared to the same quarter last year. Because of this there have been reduction in number in the households homeless or threatened with homelessness across a number of different reasons. However the proportion of cases owed duties across different reasons remains largely similar to previous years.

Chart 8: Percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by their reason for loss of last settled home in January to March 2025

6.1 Reasons for homelessness for households assessed as owed a prevention duty

In January to March 2025, ‘end of private rented Assured Shorthold Tenancy’ was the most common reason for households being owed a prevention duty. These households made up over a third of those owed a prevention duty in the quarter.

In January to March 2025, ‘end of private rented assured shorthold tenancy (AST)’ accounted for 13,790 or 36.7% of households. The number of households owed a prevention duty due to the end of AST has decreased by 7.7% compared to January to March 2024, and this group now accounts for a lower proportion of prevention duty cases (1.3 percentage points) There were also1,540 households (4.1%) owed a duty due to an end of non-assured shorthold private rented tenancy, these number have also decreased since the previous year (down 17.2%).

The most common recorded reason households were owed a prevention duty due to the end of an AST was the landlord wishing to sell or relet the property (8,950 households), of which 6,520 were due to the landlord wishing to sell the property and 2,430 were due to landlord wishing to relet the property.

The biggest increase in reasons for an AST ending for households owed a prevention duty was for rent arrears from changes in benefit entitlement, which increased by 53.8% from the same quarter last year. However, households owed a prevention duty due to rent arrears following changes in benefit entitlement only represent a small proportion of prevention duties (200 households or 0.5%).

The number of households whose AST ended due to rent arrears caused by an increase in rent decreased 23.7% since the same quarter the previous year. However, this group represents a relatively small number of households (290 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 8,890 or 23.6% of households owed a prevention duty, down 1.2% from the same quarter last year.

Other notable changes since the same quarter last year in reasons for households were owed a prevention duty include an increase of 46.6% in households required to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support to 1,920 households, an increase of 31.8% in departure from a Looked after child placement with no accommodation available to 290 households.

6.2 Reasons for homelessness for households assessed as owed a relief duty

For those 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.

Of households owed a relief duty, 13,470 households were homeless due to family or friends being no longer willing or able to accommodate them, down 5.5% from the same quarter last year but accounting for a similar proportion of households owed a relief duty (29.4%).

The second most common reason for those owed a relief duty was due to domestic abuse, accounting for 7,110 or 15.5% of households owed a relief duty. This proportion is up 1 percentage points from the same quarter last year, but the number of households has decreased by 0.6%.

There was a decrease of 19.0% in households owed relief duty due to ‘requirement to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support’ compared to January to March 2024 to 4,020 households. This contrasts with the increase in the number of these households owed a duty at the prevention stage, compared to the previous year.

Other notable changes from the same quarter last year in reasons why households were owed a relief duty included a decrease of 14.6% in ‘other violence or harassment’ to 1,170 households and an increase of 12.0% in ‘departure from Psychiatric Hospital with no accommodation available’ to 280 households.

6.3 Current accommodation

Reflecting the reasons for households becoming homeless or threatened with homelessness, those assessed as owed a prevention duty were most commonly in private rented sector accommodation at the time of application. Similarly, for households initially owed a relief duty were most commonly living with family.

Chart 9: Percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by their accommodation at the time of approach in January to March 2025

The most common type of accommodation at the time of application for those owed a prevention duty was in the private rented sector (43.2%), down 9.1% from January to March 2024 to 16,240 households. This also reflect a lower proportion of households in the private rented sector when assessed as owed a prevention duty compared to the same period in 2024 (down 2.2 percentage points).

The most common type of accommodation for households owed a relief duty was living with family (10,460 or 22.8% of households), up 0.2 percentage points compared to January to March 2024.

The number of households owed a relief duty who were ‘rough sleeping’ on approach fell by 2.7% from January to March 2024 to 4,720 households; similarly, those reporting ‘no fixed abode’ fell 6.0% to 5,460 households.

The percentage reported as ‘Other/not known’ accommodation at the time of application has reduced by 4.3% for prevention duties and reduced by 9.2% for relief duties.

6.4 Reporting households owed a duty due to loss of placement or sponsorship that was provided through a resettlement scheme

Our Tables on Homelessness now include a category of households owed a duty where there was a loss of placement or sponsorship that was provided through a resettlement scheme, such as the Ukraine and Afghan schemes. These cases were previously included under ”other” in data before April-June 2024.

In January to March 2025, 220 households were recorded as owed a prevention duty and 90 were owed a relief duty due to Loss of placement or sponsorship provided through a resettlement scheme.

Figures may initially be an undercount until all authorities begin using this new reporting category on their recording systems.

6.5 Duty to refer

8.6% or 7,800 of the 90,780 assessments made were as a result of referrals from public bodies under the duty to refer. This is slightly higher than the proportion at the same time in the previous year (7.9%).

Of the assessments carried out from a duty to refer referral, 92.4% resulted in a homelessness duty. Criminal justice system organisations made the most assessments due to referrals to homelessness services under the duty to refer with 3,320 assessments (42.6% of total assessments from a duty to refer referral), a decrease of 3.2% from January to March 2024.

Other notable changes in the number of assessments due to referrals from public bodies since January to March 2024 include an increase of 50.0% in assessments due to referrals from the Nil Recourse Team^{[footnote 1]} to 60 households and a decrease of 44.4% in assessments due to unknown duty to refer referrals to 50 households.

7. Demographics

7.1 Household composition

During this quarter, adult only households were more likely to have homeless applications taken when already homeless (60.4% of those owed a relief duty), whereas duties owed to those threatened with homelessness were more likely to be to households with children (56.6% of those owed a prevention duty).

In January to March 2025, 56,720 adult only households were owed a prevention or relief duty, down 3.7% from January to March 2024. The number of households with children owed a prevention or relief duty decreased 9.1% from January to March 2024 to 26,590.

7.2 Age of lead applicants

For households owed a prevention or relief duty the most common age of lead applicants was 25-34 accounting for 28.6% or 23,860 households owed a duty in January to March 2025.

Chart 10: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by age group in January to March 2025

The largest increases in number of households since the previous year by age of lead applicant were for the age groups 75+, up 5.9% to 1,080 and 65-74 up 4.0% to 2,880. On the other hand, households whose lead applicants were aged 16-17, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64 fell by 10.0%, 5.6%, 8.9%, 5.0%, 4.5% and 1.1% respectively. Despite these changes, the proportions of households owed a duty by lead applicant’s age were largely unchanged compared to the same quarter last year.

7.3 Ethnicity of lead applicants

The majority of households owed a prevention or relief duty were where the lead applicant was White (62.0%), followed by households where the lead applicant was Black (12.0%) or Asian (8.0%).

Chart 11: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by ethnicity in January to March 2025

Compared to the previous year, the number of households owed a prevention or relief duty where the lead applicant was Black increased by 5.0%, Mixed fell by 5.8%, White fell by 6.0% and Asian fell by 6.3%. The proportion of households owed a duty whose lead applicant was Black increased by 1.3 percentage points compared to January to March 2024.

7.4 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 36.6% or 30,530 households in January to March 2025.

Chart 12: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by employment status in January to March 2025

The employment statuses that saw the largest increases in lead applicants of homelessness duty were those who were working irregular hours up 7.2% to 2,090, not registered but seeking work up 5.3% to 3,550 and retired up 4.1% to 2,790. Whilst those who were in part-time work fell 15.6% to 7,500, in full-time work fell 11.2% to 10,180 and not seeking work / at home fell 7.9% to 5,270.

7.5 Household support needs

The number of households owed a prevention or relief duty with identified support needs has increased. There were increases across all support needs, but the most common continued to be health problems.

Chart 13: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by the top 6 support needs of households in January to March 2025 compared to January to March 2024

Of all households owed either a prevention or relief duty, 48,700 or 58.4% of households identified as having one or more support needs, up 4.6 percentage points since January to March 2024. The most common support need was for those with history of mental health problems, accounting for 23,600 or 28.3% of households owed a homelessness duty. This was up 2.3 percentage points since the same quarter last year. The second most common support need was physical ill health and disability, accounting for 18,100 or 21.7% of households owed a duty, up 2.6 percentage points from last year.

Notable changes this quarter compared to the same time last year in the support needs of those owed a prevention or relief duty included for: former asylum seekers, up 16.0% to 4,200 households (5.0% of all households), those with access to education, employment or training, up 14.9% from the same quarter last year to 4,560 households (5.5% of all households), and care leavers aged 21 to 24 up 14.3% from the same quarter last year to 480 households (0.6% of all households).

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.

9.1 Our published outputs

On the Statutory homelessness in England January to March 2025 webpage, 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

9.2 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

9.3 Release information and contact

Release date: 22 July 2025

Date of next release: September 2025 

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

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

Feedback: Please complete our user engagement survey

1. Nil Recourse Team is the local authority team with responsibility for providing assistance to people who are not eligible for public funds but may receive assistance under social care legislation. This public body has a Duty to refer. ↩