Accredited official statistics

Statutory homelessness in England: July to September 2025

Published 26 February 2026

Applies to England

1. About our statistics

This is the quarterly statistics release for statutory homelessness assessments and activities in England between 1 July and 30 September 2025, and households in temporary accommodation under the statutory homelessness duty in England on 30 September 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.

Changes and corrections to note for this quarter

Note on revisions to B&B 6 weeks figures from April-June 2024 onwards:

• A number of authorities raised that not all cases of households with children in B&B for 6+ weeks were being accurately recorded. For example, households with multiple shorter placements in B&B were not correctly counted towards the 6-week total.

• We previously planned to incorporate these additional cases for the April-June 2024 data release. We have now identified an error meaning that this was not actioned as intended. We have rectified this error, and issues have now been resolved, meaning that these figures should now more accurately reflect local authority records for households with children in B&B over 6 weeks, and those in B&B over 6 weeks who are pending review or appeal.

• We have now corrected the affected England time series and detailed local authority level files from April-June 2024, for all revised data sets on our tables for homelessness page. This means that some of the increase in B&B 6 weeks figures for periods from April-June 2024 are due to these updated inclusion criteria for categorising households with children in B&B beyond the statutory 6-week limit.

Key statistics information

• Trends described in this release focus on England level totals. Additional data to compare England trends over time can be found in our England level time series published on Tables on homelessness

• We also publish regional and local authority level data. Quarterly detailed local authority level datafiles can be found alongside the statistics release, and all latest revised datasets are available on Tables on homelessness.

• We typically describe changes in the number of households in the current period compared to the same time the previous year, i.e. percentage increases or decreases. For some sections of data we also describe whether the outcomes or characteristics of households have changed as a proportion of all households, compared to the previous year, i.e. percentage point increases for groups who now represent a larger proportion of all households and percentage decreases for groups representing a lower proportion of households than the previous year.

• Most comparisons are made to the previous year, rather than the previous quarter because of seasonal changes in our data. For example, the number of new prevention and relief duties typically falls in October to December, followed by increases in January to March.

• Data are provisional when first published and revised in the following quarter, and at the end of each financial year to incorporate details for late updated cases. Any further corrections or revisions are described in each release, accompanying tables, and technical notes.

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 on last day of the quarter and the characteristics of people in 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.

2. Main findings

The latest July to September 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 figures to the previous year rather than the previous quarter. 

The number of households with successful outcomes at the end of prevention duties have risen compared to the previous year, as has the proportion of prevention duty outcomes which ended successfully. While for relief duties, the numbers ending this quarter are lower than the same quarter the last year, however the proportion of relief duties ending with secured accommodation have increased.

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. Although overall, the proportion of households ending a main duty because they accepted an offer of settled accommodation, is similar to the previous year.

The number of households in temporary accommodation on the 30 September 2025 is at record levels, following continuing increases. However, the rate that new households are entering temporary accommodation is beginning to slow compared to last year.  

The number of families, and the total children in temporary accommodation, have also showed continuing increases. However, the number of families in B&Bs, and families in B&Bs for more than 6-weeks ^{[footnote 1]} have been falling each quarter since 30 June 2024.  

In July to September 2025:

• 89,530 households had initial assessments, down 1.6% from July to September 2024. From these initial assessments, 81,360 were assessed as owed a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness, down 2.6% from July to September 2024.

• 36,380 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness and therefore owed a prevention duty which is down 3.0% from the same quarter last year. This includes 5,660 households threatened with homelessness due to service of a Section 21 notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy – a decrease of 18.6% from the same quarter last year.

• 44,970 households were initially assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty, down 2.3% from the same quarter last year. Households with children owed a relief duty decreased 4.9% from the same quarter last year to 11,910 households in July to September 2025.

• 16,650 households were accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, down 10.1% from July to September 2024. 13,740 households had their main duty come to an end, up 6.7% from the previous year. Most main duties end when the household accepts an offer of settled accommodation (77.4%).

• On 30 September 2025, 134,760 households were in temporary accommodation, which is an increase of 7.0% from 30 September 2024 and an increase of 1.8% from 30 June 2025. Households with children increased by 6.5% to 85,730, and single households increased by 7.8% to 49,030 from the 30 September 2024.

3. Statutory homelessness initial assessments and outcomes

Initial Assessments

At the beginning of 2024, the number of households owed duties to prevent or relieve homelessness reached record levels. Levels in July to September 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 July to September 2025

89,530 households were initially assessed by their local authority to determine if they were owed a statutory homelessness duty, down 1.6% from July to September 2024. From these initial assessments, 81,360 were assessed as owed a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness, down 2.6% from the previous year.

The number of households assessed as at risk of becoming homelessness, and therefore owed a prevention duty, was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year to 36,380. This includes 5,660 households threatened with homelessness due to service of a Section 21 notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy – a decrease of 18.6% from the same quarter last year.

44,970 households were initially assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty, down 2.3% from the same quarter last year. Households with children owed a relief duty decreased 4.9% from the same quarter last year to 11,910 households in July to September 2025.

Prevention Duty Outcomes

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

Chart 3: Percentage of prevention and relief duties ending with accommodation secured, April to June 2029 to July to September 2025

Over half of the prevention duties ending in July to September 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 2022, 2023 and 2024, however remains lower than the same period across 2018 to 2021 when the homelessness reduction act (HRA) was first introduced.

In July to September 2025, prevention duty ended for 36,610 households, up 1.7% from the same quarter last year. 19,560 or 53.4% ended this quarter because the household secured accommodation for 6 months or more and their homelessness had been prevented. This is a higher proportion of successful outcomes compared to last year (up 1.8 percentage points).

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 6,600 households being able to remain in their existing home. This is 33.7% of those securing accommodation for six or more months, down 2.8 percentage points from this time last year.

Approximately a quarter (24.7% or 9,030) of households whose prevention duty ended were homeless at the end of the prevention duty and were subsequently owed relief duty. This is down 1.6 percentage points than the same quarter last year.

Relief Duty Outcomes

Just over 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 it remains lower than the same period across 2018 to 2022 when the homelessness reduction act (HRA) was first introduced.

In July to September 2025, relief duties ended for 53,220 households, which is down 3.7% from the same quarter last year. The proportion of relief duties ending with secured accommodation has increased since the same quarter last year up 3.3 percentage points, with these households making up 17,890 or 33.6% of the households whose relief duties ended.

26,150, or 49.1% 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 2.9 percentage points from the same quarter last year.

This outcome was followed by 17,890 or 33.6% of households whose relief duty ended because they had secured accommodation for at least 6 months, up 3.3 percentage points from the same quarter last year. Of these, 76.2% (13,640) were adult only households, up 2.1 percentage points from the same quarter last year.

Main Duty Decisions and Outcomes

Main Duty Decisions

The number of households owed a main duty fell by 10.1% compared to July to September 2024, mirroring the decrease in main duty assessments in the same period. However, the proportion households being accepted after a main duty assessment has remained similar to the previous year.

Chart 4: Number of households by decision of main duty assessment from July to September 2024 to July to September 2025

In July to September 2025, local authorities made 25,150 main duty decisions for eligible households:

• For 66.2% (16,650) of all main duty decisions, main duties were accepted, as the household was judged to be homeless, with priority need, and unintentionally homeless.

• 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.

• 7,170 were not owed a main duty as the household was assessed as homeless but with no priority need, representing 28.5% of all main duty decisions in the quarter.

• 180 were not owed a main duty as the household was assessed as not homeless. These decisions represented 0.7% of all main duty decisions in the quarter.

• Overall, the proportion of different decisions for those assessed for a main duty were similar compared to the same time the previous year.

The number of households with children owed a main duty fell by 11.9% from the same quarter last year to 8,390 households. This reflects the decreases in households with children owed a relief duty this quarter (down 4.9%) and last quarter (down 10.5%) compared to previous year.

The number of households owed a main duty who were homeless and have priority need due to domestic abuse fell from July to September 2024 by 4.5% to 1,490, although this is counter to an increase in households who were homeless or threatened with homelessness due to domestic abuse over the last year (i.e. 10,700 households owed a duty due to domestic abuse, up 4.6% from the previous year).

Main Duty Outcomes

More households had a main duty come to an end in July to September 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, and the proportion of household accepting accommodation offers at the end of main duty.

In July to September 2025, 13,740 households had their main homelessness duty come to an end, up 6.7% from July to September 2024. Of these households, 10,640 accepted an offer of settled accommodation, up 6.6% from the same quarter last year. Households accepting an accommodation offer represented 77.4% of all main duties ending in the quarter, remaining the same compared to the same period last year.

4. 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 ^{[footnote 1]} have reduced since the same period last year.   

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

134,760 households were in temporary accommodation on 30 September 2025, up 1.8% from the previous quarter and up 7.0% from the same time last year.

The number of adult only households in temporary accommodation rose 1.9% from the previous quarter and rose 7.8% from the same time last year to 49,030.

Overall, 85,730 households or 63.6% of households in temporary accommodation included dependent children, with 175,990 dependent children living in temporary accommodation. Households with children increased 1.8% from the previous quarter and increased 6.5% from 30 September 2024.

On 30 September 2025, there were 20.6 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 60.7 households per 1,000 households.

Slough Borough Council had the highest rate outside London with 25.0 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 September 2025 by temporary accommodation type and household composition

Of the households in temporary accommodation on 30 September 2025, 13,930 were living in bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation, down 20.9% from the same time last year. These accounted for 10.3% of all households in temporary accommodation, down 3.7 percentage points. Of these households in B&B, 11,050 (79.3%) were adult only households, down 9.6% from the same time last year. The number of households in B&B accommodation with dependent children decreased 46.6% from the same time last year to 2,880 households or 20.7% of households in B&B; this proportion is down 9.9 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 September 2025

1,670 households with children in B&B accommodation had been resident for more than the statutory limit of 6-weeks ^{[footnote 1]}. This is down 54.4% from 3,660 on 30 September 2024, and down 21.6% from 2,130 in the previous quarter.

Length of Time in TA

Chart 8: Overall length of time in temporary accommodation for households in temporary accommodation on 30 September 2025, by type of accommodation and household type

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 was 2-5 years, accounting for 22.9% of households with children in TA. Of these 6,520 (33.3%) were in nightly paid self-contained accommodation. The most common length of time for adult only households to remain in TA was less than 6 months, accounting for 31.5% of adult only households in TA. Of these 5,600 (36.3%) were in bed and breakfast accommodation.

Out of area temporary accommodation placements

41,250 households in temporary accommodation were in accommodation in a different local authority district, up 6.7% for the same time last year. 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. 81.9% of these out of area placements were from London authorities.

In London, the areas placing the highest rate (per thousand household population) of their temporary accommodation placements out of area were Newham London Borough (24.8), Westminster City Council (23.0), and Lambeth London Borough (20.6). Outside of London, those making the highest rates of out of area placements were Manchester City Council (4.8), Adur District Council (4.5), and Oadby & Wigston Borough Council (4.5).

From January to March 2025, we have begun publishing additional data on the destinations of out of area placements, as reported by the sending local authority (detailed local authority tables TA9).

35,530 (or 86.1%) out of area placements were recorded as being in an area within the same region as the original authority. A regional breakdown is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Percentage of out of area temporary accommodation placements within the same region.

Region	Total out of area	Percentage within the same region
North East	100	100.0%
North West	1,710	98.8%
Yorkshire and The Humber	30	66.7%
East Midlands	320	90.6%
West Midlands	850	97.6%
East of England	1,240	80.6%
London	33,790	85.4%
South East	2,850	83.9%
South West	350	100.0%

Households placed in different areas are most often placed in the same or neighbouring regions. For example, most out of area placements from London are to other London boroughs (85.4%), the South East (8.8%), and the East of England (5.2%).

Household types and types of accommodation secured for households placed out of area

This quarter, we have introduced two additional tables on temporary accommodation to our quarterly release following positive feedback on these tables which we included with the 2024-25 annual release: Statutory homelessness in England: financial year 2024-25.

These tables are:

• TA9_TA Type - Number of households owed a temporary accommodation duty who are in another local authority area, by type of temporary accommodation secured

• TA9_HH Type - Number of households owed a temporary accommodation duty who are in another local authority area, by household composition

Of the 41,250 households out of area on the 30 September, the most common type of temporary accommodation placement was in nightly paid accommodation with self-contained facilities (66.5%, or 27,450 households). This was followed by 17.3% (or 7,130 households) who were in private sector accommodation.

Compared to households in temporary accommodation overall, placements in nightly paid self-contained accommodation were more common for those placed in another local authority area (66.5% of households in another area compared to 37.6% overall).

Of the 41,250 households with a duty owed who were out of area on the 30 September 2025, 64.3% (26,530 households) had dependent children, while 35.7% (14,720) were adult only households. This is broadly similar to the composition of all households in temporary accommodation on 30 September 2025; 63.6% of households contained dependent children.

5. 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 July to September 2025

Reasons for homelessness for households assessed as owed a prevention duty

In July to September 2025, End of private rented Assured Shorthold Tenancy was the most common reason for households being owed a prevention duty, accounting for more than a third of households owed a prevention duty. 

In July to September 2025, ‘end of private rented assured shorthold tenancy (AST)’ accounted for 12,330 or 33.9% of households owed a prevention duty, down 18.3% than the same period last year. This proportion is down 6.3 percentage points compared to July to September 2024.

The most common reason households were owed a prevention duty due to the end of an AST was due to the landlord wishing to sell or relet the property (7,780 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 9,290 or 25.5% of households owed a prevention duty, up 1.8% from the same quarter last year.

Of note there was also an increase of 168.3% in households owed a prevention duty due to requirement to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support to 1,690 households. This had also shown an increase of 3.7% compared to the previous quarter.

To note, the number of people owed a duty after leaving asylum support fluctuates and figures for the recent quarter are not as high a peaks in previous years . For example, in October to December 2023 1,870 households were owed a prevention duty after leaving asylum support, and in January to March 2024 1,950 households. These represented increases of 179.1% and 48.9% respectively, compared to the same periods the year prior.

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.

For those owed a relief duty, family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate, accounted for 13,250 or 29.5% of households owed a relief duty, down 7.7% from the same quarter last year. There’s also been a reduction in the proportion of households owed a relief duty due to friend of family no longer able to accommodate (down 1.7 percentage points from the same quarter last year).

The second most common reason for those owed a relief duty was domestic abuse, accounting for 7,920 or 17.6% of households owed a relief duty. This had increased 5.5% from the same quarter last year and also now reflects higher proportion of all relief duties owed ( up 1.3 percentage points from the same quarter last year).

There was an increase of 27.8% in households owed relief duty due to ‘requirement to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support’ compared to July to September 2024 to 2,620 households. However, this was a decrease of 23.2% since the last quarter.

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 July to September 2025

The most common type of accommodation at the time of application for those owed a prevention duty was in the private rented sector (40.2%), down 16.5% from July to September 2024 to 14,630 households. Households in the private rented sector when owed a prevention duty also represent a lower proportion of households compared to the previous year (down 6.5 percentage points).

The most common type of accommodation for households owed a relief duty was living with family (23.9%), which fell by 5.7% from July to September 2024 to 10,770 households. This was a similar proportion of households owed a relief duty compared to compared to July to September 2024 (down 0.9 percentage points).

The number of households owed a relief duty who were ‘rough sleeping’ on approach increased by 1.4% from July to September 2024 to 4,970 households, while those reporting ‘no fixed abode’ fell 5.1% to 5,190 households.

The percentage reported as ‘Other/not known’ accommodation at the time of application has risen by 18.0% for prevention duties and risen by 1.9% for relief duties.

Duty to Refer

9.0% or 8,100 of the 89,530 assessments made were as a result of referrals from public bodies under the duty to refer. This was a similar proportion compared to the previous year, up 0.9 percentage points.

Of the assessments carried out from a duty to refer referral, 92.1% 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 3,330 assessments (41.1% of total assessments from a duty to refer referral), an increase of 3.4% from July to September 2024.

Demographics

Household composition

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 (59.4%), whereas households with children are more likely to have an application taken when threatened with homelessness (53.7%).

In July to September 2025, 55,620 adult only households were owed a prevention or relief duty, up 0.5% from July to September 2024. The number of households with children owed a prevention or relief duty decreased 8.4% from July to September 2024 to 25,730.

Age of Lead Applicants

For households owed a prevention or relief duty the most common age of lead applicants was 25-34, continuing the pattern since the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act (2017). These households accounted for 27.8% or 22,650 main applicants of households owed a duty in July to September 2025.

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

Overall, the age distribution of main applicants for households owed a homelessness duty has remained stable compared to the previous year (overall group proportions shifting by less than 1%).

While the number of households with a 16-17 age main applicant changed the most (up 8.0%), it still remains a small overall proportion of the population at 0.7% (compared to 0.6% the previous year).

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

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

• 16 to 17 were underrepresented among households newly owed a duty as well as those in temporary accommodation 

• 18-24 were overrepresented among households newly owed a duty but underrepresented among households in temporary accommodation  

• 25-44 were overrepresented among households newly owed a duty as well as those in temporary accommodation  

• 45-54 were underrepresented among households owed a duty but overrepresented in households in temporary accommodation

• 55 and over were underrepresented among households newly owed a duty as well as 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	0.7%	0.1%	2.8%
18 to 24	17.8%	9.2%	10.2%
25 to 34	27.8%	26.2%	16.7%
35 to 44	25.4%	31.4%	16.0%
45 to 54	14.9%	20.8%	16.3%
55 to 64	8.5%	8.8%	15.4%
65 to 74	3.5%	2.6%	12.1%
75 and over	1.4%	0.9%	10.5%
Not known	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Total	100.0%	100.00%	100.0%

Table note: 

• Population estimates used in this release are reproduced with reference to Census 2021 data, from Office for National Statistics. Percentages reproduced here only include the population aged 16 and over for comparability with possible ages of main applicants seeking local authority homelessness support.

• 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

Households with white lead applicants are most common among those owed a homelessness duty in England. However, these applicants are underrepresented compared to the England population, while households with black lead applicants or those from an other ethnic group represent a smaller proportion, but are typically overrepresented among households owed a statutory homelessness duty.

Chart 12: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by ethnicity in July to September 2025 compared to July to September 2024

The majority of households owed a prevention or relief duty were where the lead applicant was White (61.9%), followed by households where the lead applicant was Black (12.4%) or Asian (8.1%). The number of households owed a prevention or relief duty where the lead applicant was Mixed increased by 4.8%, Black increased by 4.5%, Asian fell by 1.9% and White fell by 5.2%.

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	8.1%	14.0%	9.6%
Black, Black British, Caribbean or African	12.4%	21.9%	4.2%
Mixed / Multiple Ethnic Groups	3.8%	4.4%	3.0%
White	61.9%	35.4%	81.0%
Other	6.2%	8.9%	2.2%
Not known	7.6%	15.4%	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. These comparison data are on the ethnicity of individuals across all ages and have not been limited to the possible age ranges of main applicants of households owed a statutory homelessness duty.

• 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 37.1% or 30,220 households in July to September 2025.

Chart 13: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by most common employment status of the main applicant in July to September 2025 compared to July to September 2024

Note: Percentages in this chart do not add to 100% as this chart covers the most common employment statuses of main applicants owed a new homelessness duty in the quarter. Further categories are reported in Table A10 of our accompanying detailed local authority data and England level time series.

The employment status that saw the largest increases for main applicants owed a homelessness duty compared to the previous year were those who were registered unemployed up 5.2% to 30,220 and not registered but seeking work up 3.7% to 3,360. Whilst those who were in full-time work fell 13.4% to 9,800, in part-time work fell 12.9% to 7,360 and those who were registered employed, but off work due to illness or disability fell 10.4% to 1,290.

Household Support Needs

Over half, 60.2%, of all households owed a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness in July to September 2025 were recorded as having one or more additional support needs. This is a higher proportion compared to the previous year (up 3.4 percentage points). 

Chart 14: The percentage of households owed a prevention or relief duty by the top six support needs of households in July to September 2025 compared to July to September 2024

Of all households owed either a prevention or relief duty, 48,940 or 60.2% 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 23,770 or 29.2% of households owed a homelessness duty. The second most common was for those with physical ill health and disability , accounting for 18,150 or 22.3% of households owed a duty.

Notable changes this quarter include households with support needs due to former asylum seekers up 69.9% from the same quarter last year, to 3,670 households (4.5%)., those with experience of modern slavery up 35.0% from the same quarter last year, to 270 households (0.3%). and those with a history of repeat homelessness up 15.3% from the same quarter last year, to 6620 households (8.1%).

6. 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.

7. 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 July to September 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

8. 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. Release information and contact

Release date: 26 February 2026 

Date of next release: Spring 2026   

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. We have rectified an error in figures for households with children in B&B for over 6-weeks from April to June 2024. See more details in the “About our statistics” section in this release and in the section on “Changes to reporting of households with children in B&B over the statutory 6-week limit” in our technical notes. ↩ ↩² ↩³