On 23 July the National Audit Office published our latest report on homelessness.  It is not pretty reading.  We are clear that, despite the 2017 Homelessness Reduction Act, homelessness numbers are at record levels and increasing, there is no overarching strategy or target for reducing statutory homelessness, and fragmented and short-term funding inhibits prevention work and limits investment in good-quality temporary accommodation and other housing.  This far from represents value for money.

Of course, one contributing factor is the lack of housing in general and the lack of social housing in particular.  For example, 2022/23 saw a 65,000 shortfall against the then government's ambition of building 300,000 new homes each year.  Moreover, the Institute of Economic Affairs recently calculated that England is 3.4 million homes short of the EU average number of homes, calculated per 100,000 population.