Spending Review 2025: St Mungo’s Representation

14th February 2025

Spending Review 2025: St Mungo’s Representation

14th February 2025

Recommendations from the charity around funding for homelessness services and provision for prevention in the 2025 Spending Review

Introduce long term and planned funding settlements for homelessness and rough sleeping – Funding for non-statutory homelessness and rough sleeping prevention and response, including the provision of supported housing, should delivered under 5-year funding cycles, with flexibility built in to respond to market changes, inflation, and variations in patterns of homelessness which may change the shape of service delivery. The model should allow for a three-year delivery period, one year for planning and procurement, and one year for transition.
Unfreeze Local Housing Allowance Rates and increase the Benefit Cap to improve housing affordability – The benefit cap should be adjusted to account for variations across Broad Market Rental Areas (BMRA) which determine LHA eligibility. Local Housing Allowance rates should be maintained at the 30th percentile of local rents.
Build 90,000 social rented homes a year – The Government should commit to the housing sector’s recommended target of building 90,000 social rented homes a year, with the portfolio including the development of buildings where supported housing can be delivered.
Funding for inclusion health – Integrated Care Boards should be required to have a dedicated focus on tackling health inequalities for inclusion health populations, including people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping in line with NICE guidelines. This should be accompanied by funding to support ICBs to meet this requirement.
Eliminate the supported housing work disincentive – To ensure people in supported housing do not become worse off when they work more, the Government should ensure there is parity in the taper rates between Housing Benefit and Universal Credit housing elements, with both at a taper rate of 55%, as well as increasing the Housing Benefit disregard to fully eliminate the cliff edge.