New Leadership, Renewed Focus on Homelessness

Posted: 21 September 2026 2:41 pm.

This summer has brought two significant leadership changes with real implications for our campaign, nationally and here in Greater Manchester.

Burnham's Approach
Since becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham has made ending rough sleeping his first priority, pledging that every rough sleeper will have a route off the streets by Christmas. This commitment has been backed by an additional £102 million in funding, bringing the total to £442 million to help people access emergency accommodation, healthcare and wider support, an approach that draws on the 'Everyone In' scheme used during the Covid-19 pandemic. Burnham has also announced plans to host a national summit this autumn, bringing together leaders from different sectors to explore how they can help end rough sleeping.

While there's still much more to be done, particularly around long-term, affordable housing and tackling the root causes of homelessness, this represents a positive first step and a national focus that closely aligns with our own campaign, giving us a stronger platform to keep pushing for lasting, systemic change.

Welcome Bev Craig
Congratulations to Bev Craig on becoming the new Mayor of Greater Manchester. As Leader of Manchester City Council, Bev already has a strong track record on this agenda, having helped reduce local homelessness while it rose elsewhere, and her manifesto for Mayor commits to using every power available to tackle homelessness, alongside a pledge to build 50,000 new council and genuinely affordable homes by 2039.

We've recently met with Bev to discuss a Greater Manchester Living Rent and reform to the private rental market in our region. We're therefore delighted to see her manifesto commitment to establish a special commission on Affordable Rents. This is a strong example of our campaign making a real, tangible difference. Following these positive conversations, we're excited to keep working closely with her as we continue campaigning for lasting change.

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