June 11th 2025 saw the government make announcements relating to housing and homelessness in its spending review. We've had an initial look at the announcements to see where they might have a positive impact for people in Bristol who face homelessness and housing security, both now and in the future.

Context: supply of social homes has drastically declined

Looking historically at the rate of social homes being built, it can be seen that the 1980 Housing Act stands at a turning point. It introduced the right to buy for council social home tenants. This saw more homes being taken out of social housing stock than were put back in. Between the Second World War and 1980, an average of 126,000 social homes per year were built. By 1983, the rate of building had already halved. This brings us to today, and a chronic shortage of social homes driving homelessness, and leaving many households stuck in temporary housing. In Bristol, this is a huge problem, with over 1600 households in temporary accommodation.

A key moment

This week’s Government spending review announced £39bn would be allocated to social and affordable housing (over the next 10 years). While this is a key moment, further clarity is needed around how many social homes this will yield, and how it will contribute to the government target of building 1.5 million homes over the duration of current parliament. It will help to firm up plans made by housing associations and enable them to be put into action. However, it is unlikely to end homelessness, so it’s essential that we keep our focus on all measures that can do this.

Caring in Bristol looks forward to seeing how this announcement impacts on Bristol. We hope to see the pressure of homelessness being lessened for those living in our city. Social homes are a key resource in pushing back against homelessness, alleviating the pressure on individuals and families, and providing a foundation for better living.

Temporary accommodation

The spending review also confirmed £950m for a further round of funding to help local authorities to increase provision of temporary accommodation. This is the largest yet, and an indicator of the scale of the pressure on the housing system, forcing people into temporary accommodation where no long-term social homes are available in the housing system.

Repealing outdated legislation

In other recent announcements by the government, The Vagrancy Act, first introduced in 1824, is to be repealed next year (2026). It’s an example of legislation that simply does not belong in our time, and can be used to target rough sleepers. Although the number of prosecutions under the act has continued to decline, the principle still stands; people who are forced to sleep rough should not be criminalised for it. When systems fail, it is an injustice to heap blame and responsibility for it onto the individual impacted by the failure.