Andy Burnham's pledge to end rough sleeping is reportedly under threat due to a failure to find accommodation for a rising number of newly released prisoners, according to the social justice charity Nacro.
Nacro's analysis found that nearly one in six people leaving jail in England and Wales last year were released into homelessness, marking the highest rate in five years. Between April 2025 and March 2026, 15,155 people freed from prison were without housing, an 18% increase on the previous year.
Enver Solomon, Nacro's chief executive, stated that the proportion of prison leavers released without accommodation has increased annually for five years, rising from 10.6% in 2021-22 to 15.9% this year. He added that three in four people released to rough sleeping reoffend within a year, compared with just over a third of those released into accommodation.
The government has committed to halving the proportion of offenders on probation who become homeless on their first night out of prison, as outlined in the national plan to end homelessness published last December. A government spokesperson said they are working with local councils and charities to halve prison leaver homelessness by 2029.