Labour’s pre-election manifesto promised to ‘develop a new cross-government strategy’ to end homelessness – but do the announcements made in the King’s Speech meet that ambition?
On Wednesday (17th July 2024), we were given a closer look at the legislative agenda of the new government. This was an opportunity for Keir Starmer to set out the key bills that his party wants to introduce to realise its manifesto commitments, spanning a vast range of different policy areas.
At Emmaus UK, we were keeping a close eye on proceedings to see what steps Labour is planning to take to end homelessness, having published our own Action on Homelessness manifesto in June.
While a strong commitment to end the injustice and devastation of homelessness was welcome in the run up to the election, it remained to be seen what detailed plans would emerge to back it up.
Sam Dalton, Emmaus UK’s Policy, Campaigns and External Affairs Manager, explains what we know so far.
Putting housing centre stage
It was positive to see Labour put a big emphasis on building new homes, with one of the most noteworthy pieces of legislation proposed being a Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which promises to reform the planning system and make it easier to build the 1.5 million new homes the new government has committed to.
An overarching focus on housing is good for tackling homelessness, as there will be a greater supply of homes, which in theory should contribute to greater affordability and ensure more people have a place to live.
But we also want to see the new government prioritising homes which are truly affordable, in the form of social housing. Emmaus and many other organisations have called for 90,000 new social homes to be built per year to help end homelessness.
While Labour is yet to commit to a figure, it has promised the biggest expansion in affordable and social homes in a generation.
We look forward to seeing more detail on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and how Labour plans to ensure truly affordable housing plays a big role in its overall housebuilding plans.
Reforms for private renters
In our manifesto, we focused on the insecurity of private renting and the major impact that no-fault Section 21 evictions have on homelessness.
It is estimated that over 80,000 people had been put at risk of homelessness since the last government promised to ban this form of eviction.
That is why we welcome the announcement of a new Renters Rights Bill, which pledges to end Section 21 evictions for good, alongside other measures to strengthen rights and building safety for private renters.
Ending the criminalisation of homelessness
Before the election, our efforts to stop the criminalisation of homelessness had largely focused on the Conservative’s proposed Criminal Justice Bill, which threatened to give police the powers to fine or arrest rough sleepers, even for simply being a ‘nuisance’ or carrying an ‘excessive smell’.
With this Bill now falling by the wayside, our attention has once again turned to the Vagrancy Act. Emmaus has joined other organisations to campaign for the abolition of the outdated legislation, which still criminalises rough sleeping. We also signed a joint letter to the Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell MP, ahead of the King’s Speech to demand that this abolition be included.
We were disappointed not to see the scrapping of the Act this time around, but will continue to campaign with others for an end to the criminalisation of homelessness.
A new Homelessness Unit?
Something else not visible in The King’s Speech, but included in Labour’s manifesto, was the new cross-government strategy on ending homelessness.
It has been reported that this will be led by the new Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, through a Homelessness Unit that brings together different departments.
This cross-government approach is precisely what Emmaus thinks is needed to tackle the wide-ranging causes of homelessness, including housing, mental and physical health challenges, unemployment, and more.
Our Chief Executive, Charlotte Talbott, wrote in the Big Issue recently about how this holistic approach corresponds closely to our own work in Emmaus communities across the country, which brings together housing with work opportunities and social support.
Establishing a new Homelessness Unit and beginning to develop a strategy does not necessarily require a Bill to go through Parliament, which means we are still hopeful this will be Labour’s approach, despite not appearing in The King’s Speech.
Positive steps
Commitments to build new homes and ban no-fault evictions are big steps in the right direction towards ending homelessness.
We look forward to working with the new Labour government to take these ambitions forward, and continue campaigning for the full breadth of policy ideas in our manifesto, as part of the cross-government work on the horizon.