Universal credit has increased in 2024 but some claimants will only be seeing the extra cash in their accounts from June.

Benefits across the board increased by 6.7% this April. That was because benefits are supposed to increase by September’s rate of inflation and last year that was 6.7%.

But because of the way assessment periods for universal credit work, you might only get extra money from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) this month.

• Universal credit claimants lose more than £1bn a year to ‘automatic DWP deductions’
• Why DWP urgently needs to make universal credit enough so people can afford the essentials

Below, we’ve explained why some people are only just getting the increased rate, why charities are calling for universal credit to be increased further, and where else to get support in June 2024.

Why has my universal credit increased in June 2024?

Benefits increased by 6.7% from 8 April, 2024 for many claimants.

But for some universal credit claimants, the increased benefit rates has only taken effect in June. This is because the new rate is not paid by the DWP until the first assessment period on or after 8 April.

Here’s an example. Your assessment period began on 26 March. It runs for a complete calendar month so ended on 25 April.

Payments are made a week after the first assessment period comes to an end, so you received your payment on 2 May. But because the assessment period started before 8 April, it was at the old rate.

A new assessment period would have begun on 26 April and ended on 25 May. So the new full rate would have been paid on 1 June.

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Why are people calling for universal credit to be increased further?

Universal credit is not enough for people to afford the cost of living, even since they have been increased in 2024.

The standard allowance for universal credit for people aged 25 and over falls short by around £30 every week – or £120 every month, according to estimations from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. For people aged 25 and under, the shortfall is even higher, at around £48 every week.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Trussell Trust and the Big Issue, backed by more than 100 organisations, are calling for an ‘essentials guarantee’ to be implemented into universal credit so people can at least afford the basics they need to live.

Read more here.

Big Issue is demanding an end to poverty this general election. Will you sign our open letter to party leaders?

Could you be eligible for more DWP benefits or cost of living help?

Benefits aren’t stretching far enough in the cost of living crisis – but they can be a lifeline.

You could be entitled to benefits and tax credits if you are working or unemployed, sick or disabled, a parent, a young person, an older person or a veteran. You can use a benefits calculator to find out what you might be entitled to claim – including from Turn2Us, Policy in Practice and entitledto.

Citizens Advice offers information and services to help people and they can advise you as to what financial support is available from the government to help you. You can also find local advice services here.

People who are struggling financially may be eligible for charitable grants. You can find out what grants might be available to you using Turn2Us’ grant search on the charity’s website.

If you are unable to pay your bills, your local council may have a scheme that can help you. Local councils may be able to give you debt advice, help you get hold of furniture and support you through food and fuel poverty. You can also find out what support your council offers through End Furniture Poverty’s local welfare assistance finder or by contacting your local authority directly.

You can find your local food bank through the Trussell Trust’s website or the IFAN’s member’s map. You can also call the Trussell Trust’s free helplines and talk to a trained adviser. It’s 0808 208 2138 if you live in England or Wales, and 0800 915 4604 if you live in Northern Ireland. You should contact your local council if you live in Scotland.

There’s lots more cost of living help available to people who need it – we round it up here.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

Universal credit falls short of the money people need to afford the basics they need to survive.

Millions of people in the UK are going without food, falling behind on bills and living in cold and damp homes as benefits fail to cover the cost of living.

New research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that nearly one million people are only £10 a week away from falling into poverty. That includes 200,000 children.

• Nearly one million people only £10 a week away from poverty, study finds
• Universal credit claimants lose more than £1bn a year to ‘automatic DWP deductions’
• Next government must increase universal credit so people have enough money to survive

Around seven million households across the country had gone without essentials like showers, clothing or toiletries in the last six months, or had gone hungry or skipped meals in the last 30 days.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Trussell Trust and the Big Issue, backed by more than 100 organisations, are calling for an ‘essentials guarantee’ to be implemented into universal credit so people can at least afford the basics they need to live.

It is one of the asks in the Big Issue’s Blueprint for Change, which sets out how the next government can end poverty for good. So how would an essentials guarantee work? How much should universal credit increase? And how can you show your support? We explain all you need to know.

How much does universal credit need to increase so people can afford the essentials?

Universal credit must be at least £120 a week for people to afford the essentials, according to estimations by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

That means that the standard allowance for universal credit for people aged 25 and over falls short by around £30 every week – or £120 every month.

For people aged 25 and under, the shortfall is even higher, at around £48 every week.

Couples aged 25 and over are left £57 out of pocket each week between them, and younger couples are £87 short every week.

How much money do people spend on essentials?

Single adults need £120 a week to afford their basic essentials, not including housing costs.

Let’s break that down. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates that around £39 goes on food and alcoholic drinks for the average adult. People spend roughly £27 each week on electricity and gas. Water comes in at just £6 and it’s the same cost for clothes and shoes. There’s £9 on communications – like phone bills, internet and postage. Travel’s about £16, and those extra costs like toiletries, cleaning materials, haircuts and bank charges are around £15. All that together is £120.

Couples save a bit of money when living together – so they’ll spend around £100 each on the above.

Universal credit just isn’t stretching to cover this. And it’s important to stress that these are essentials: things we all need to live and work in society. It doesn’t include luxuries which we should all be entitled too – the little bit of cash to spend on going for a drink with friends, for a holiday or day trip with your kids. Many would argue that these too are essentials, because they are vital to our mental health.

But at the moment, the bleak reality is that universal credit claimants cannot even afford food or heating. It’s why more people than ever are being forced to turn to food banks for the first time, with food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network handing out more than three million food parcels in the year up to March.

More than half (55%) people on universal credit ran out of food and could not afford any more in January this year, the Trussell Trust found.

How would an essentials guarantee work?

The essentials guarantee would make it policy that universal credit must protect people from going without the essentials. There would be a legal minimum embedded into the universal credit system.

There would be an independent process to regularly recommend the essentials guarantee level, based on the cost of essentials (such as food, utilities and vital household items) and adjusted to inflation.

The standard allowance would need to at least meet this amount and any deductions to universal credit, such as debt repayments to the government, would not be allowed to reduce support below that level.

New analysis by the New Economics Foundation has found that half of people on universal credit are having money deducted from their payments each month, losing an average of £63.

How much would an essentials guarantee cost?

The essentials guarantee is estimated to cost an additional £19billion a year in 2024/2025, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. That’s not insignificant, but it would also mean huge savings for public services.

Poverty leads to poorer physical and mental health, increased demand on the NHS and social care services, and higher crime rates.

The health impacts of poverty also mean that people are less likely to be able to contribute in a substantial way to the workforce and economy. Children living in poverty are less likely to thrive in education, meaning their chances of thriving in the workforce in the future are less likely.

Child poverty currently costs the taxpayer a staggering £39billion annually.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has suggested that the essentials guarantee could be introduced gradually, such as being embedded at a lower level to begin with. It also means that people have a bit more money to spend on essentials, benefitting high streets and local economies.

How many people on universal credit would benefit from an essentials guarantee?

Around 8.8 million low-income families would benefit from an essentials guarantee. That includes 3.9 million families with children.

Over half of all working-age families in the UK with a disabled family member would benefit.

Then you’ve got the wider benefits for the population as a whole – NHS staff would be under less pressure, food banks would get some relief, local councils would no longer have to help as many people get out of financial crisis, and we would see safer streets because of reduced crime rates… In the long term, it’s an investment for the taxpayer.

Who supports the essentials guarantee?

A petition from the Trussell Trust reached more than 150,000 signatures from people showing support for the essentials guarantee.

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 72% of the public support the essentials guarantee and only 8% oppose it. Around 82% of people who voted Labour in 2019 support it, 83% of Liberal Democrat voters, and 62% of Conservative voters support the policy.

The work and pensions committee, a cross-party group of MPs, recommended that the government introduce a new benchmark for benefits levels which takes into account living costs, such as that set out in the essentials guarantee.

It also recommended an “uprating guarantee” which would give claimants the assurance that working-age benefits and local housing allowance will be increased each year.

Stephen Timms, the chair of the work and pensions committee, said: “We have heard plenty of evidence that benefits are currently at a level that leaves many unable to afford daily essentials or meet the unavoidable extra costs associated with having a health impairment or disability.

“The government has previously said that it is not possible to come up with an objective way of deciding what benefits should be. Our recommendations are a response to that challenge, and the ball is now back in the government’s court.”

Now, it will be up to the next government to make the change and so far no party has committed to an essentials guarantee.

More than 100 organisations – including the Big Issue, New Economics Foundation, Centrepoint, StepChange and more – have backed the calls for an essentials guarantee.

You can sign the Big Issue’s petition calling for the next government to commit to ending poverty, such as through the implementation of an essentials guarantee, below. You might also want to email your MP to show your support.

Big Issue is demanding an end to poverty this general election. Will you sign our open letter to party leaders?

Cost of living payments have come to an end and the government has no plans to continue the scheme.

Millions of low-income households received the final cost of living payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) between 6 February and 22 February 2024.

This was the third of three payments totalling £900 for 2023 and 2024. They were given to around eight million low-income households on means-tested benefits, and followed two payments totalling up to £650 for 2022 to 2023.

Charities and individuals said that the payments were not enough as the ongoing crisis continues to plunge people into poverty – but for many they were a lifeline which helped them afford their basic essentials.

Instead, the government increased benefits by 6.7% in April, in line with September’s rate of inflation.

If you are worried about the cost of living payment ending, know that you are not alone and there is help out there for people who need it.

Here’s everything you need to know now the cost of living payment has ended – including when you should have received the last payment, what to do if your cost of living payment is missing, whether you could receive additional benefits and where else you can go to get support now that the cost of living payment has ended.

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What date should I have got the last cost of living payment? 

Most people on DWP benefits received the last cost of living payment between Tuesday, February 6 and Thursday, February 22. This was the third and final payment for the 2023/2024 period and there are no further payments planned.

The previous payment of £300 was paid between 31 October and 19 November 2023. 

There is a chance payments could have been paid late – such as if you were made eligible for a qualifying benefit at a later date or you change the bank account your benefit or tax credits are paid into.

How do I report a missing cost of living payment?

If you think you should have had a payment but you can’t see it in your bank account, you can report it through the government’s website.

Before reporting a missing payment, you should check your bank, building society or credit union account, or your payment exception service voucher receipt.

Is it another cost of living payment or a scam?

If someone contacts you about a future cost of living payment, it could well be a scam.

You did not need to apply for the payment, and official bodies like the DWP and HMRC never ask for your bank details by SMS or email. You can find advice on spotting scams by visiting the government’s website. 

Suspicious emails can be forwarded to report@phishing.gov.uk, so the National Security Cyber Centre will investigate it, and texts to 7726, which will report the text to your mobile phone provider. 

Who got the cost of living payment?

People receiving certain benefits or tax credits were eligible for the cost of living payment. This included: universal credit, income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), income support, pension credit, child tax credit and working tax credit. 

You also had to have been receiving one of these benefits between November 13 and December 12, 2023, or a payment for an assessment period ending between these dates.

If you get both child tax credit and working tax credit you will only have received a cost of living payment for child tax credit. If you get tax credits from HMRC and a benefit from the DWP, you’ll only have received the payment from the DWP.

Couples with a joint claim only received single payments between them. You will not have got a payment if you are only getting the new style employment and support allowance, contributory employment and support allowance, or new style jobseeker’s allowance.

If your benefit was reduced to £0 for the qualifying period, you were also not eligible. This is sometimes called ‘nil award’ and refers to when you stop getting benefits for a variety of reasons. This could be because your earnings go up (or your partner’s earnings go up), you start getting another benefit or your savings go up.

If you are getting tax credits from HMRC and a low-income benefit from DWP, you will only have got the one cost of living payment. In this case, payment will have shown as ‘HMRC COLS’ in bank and building society accounts, so that people know the money is cost of living support.

Will I get a disability cost of living payment in 2024?

The £150 disability cost of living payment was paid to disabled people who receive certain benefits between 20 June and 4 July, 2023. There are no further payments planned for 2024.

Could I be eligible for benefits I’m not already getting?

You could be entitled to benefits and tax credits if you are working or unemployed, sick or disabled, a parent, a young person, an older person or a veteran. You can use the charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator to find out what benefits you are entitled to claim. 

Citizens Advice offers information and services to help people and they can advise you as to what financial support is available from the government to help you. 

Just under £19billion in benefits goes unclaimed each year, according to research by Policy in Practice. That’s often because people don’t know about them, can’t access them and because of the stigma around asking for help.

But it’s so important to claim support you’re entitled to.

Where else can I get cost of living help?

Now that cost of living payments are over, there are other places people can go to get help.

People who are struggling financially may be eligible for charitable grants. You can find out what grants might be available to you using Turn2Us’ grant search on the charity’s website.

There are a huge range of grants available for different people – including those who are bereaved, disabled, unemployed, redundant, ill, a carer, veteran, young person or old person. Grants are also usually available to people who have no recourse to public funds and cannot claim welfare benefits. 

If you are unable to pay your bills, your local council may have a scheme that can help you. Local councils may be able to give you debt advice, help you get hold of furniture and support you through food and fuel poverty.

Your council may also have a local welfare assistance scheme, also known as crisis support. You can also find out what support your council offers through End Furniture Poverty’s local welfare assistance finder or by contacting your local authority directly.

You may be able to get help with essential costs from your local council through the household support fund. This might be through providing food vouchers in the school holidays, debt and money advice, white goods or short-term cash payments – but every council has their own scheme and eligibility criteria, so you’ll have to contact them directly or check their website to find out what support they offer.

You can find your local food bank through the Trussell Trust’s website or the IFAN’s member’s map. You can also call the Trussell Trust’s free helplines and talk to a trained adviser. It’s 0808 208 2138 if you live in England or Wales, and 0800 915 4604 if you live in Northern Ireland. You should contact your local council if you live in Scotland.

There’s lots more cost of living help available to people who need it – we round it up here.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

Rents in the UK are now at the highest rate on record – but will renters finally see prices fall as inflation drops in 2024?

Average private rents in the UK increased by 8.9% in the 12 months up to April 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). That showed “tentative” signs of the record-high rent rises seen in recent times starting to fall with growth down from 9.2% in previous month.

But tenants are still paying £103 more every month on average than they were a year ago and rent rises are higher than both inflation and wage increases. 

The Westminster government unfroze local housing allowance in April 2024 but tenants on low incomes are still facing a challenge to keep up. 

A recent Financial Conduct Authority survey found over two-fifths of renters (42%) said their disposable income had gone down a lot over the last 12 months in England or that they had no disposable income whatsoever, compared to the UK average of 28%.  

Rachelle Earwaker, senior economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said tenants need more protection through the much-delayed Renters Reform Bill to have more security in their homes. It now looks like the legislation is unlikely to pass into law ahead of the 4 July general election.  

“Historically high rent increases see no sign of slowing down, even as inflation falls. Even with the recent increase to housing benefit, this will leave many renters without any disposable income whatsoever. Renters who can’t absorb these costs risk being evicted from their home,” said Earwalker.

“Meanwhile, progress on the Renters Reform Bill is uncertain, despite the government promising to end Section 21 evictions over five years ago. Everyone deserves a secure and affordable home. The Renters Reform Bill must give renters a better deal by abolishing Section 21 as well as addressing the affordability crisis for renters.”

That affordability crisis meant full-time workers in England could expect to pay around 8.3 times their annual earnings in 2023 to buy a home, the ONS said. In Wales, the equivalent figure is 6.1 times yearly salaries.

Homes were bought for less than five times workers’ earnings – and, therefore, deemed affordable – in just 7% of local authorities in England and Wales.

Other measures also show renters are paying more than ever. Rightmove revealed in January 2024 that advertised rents are 9.2% higher than a year previously. Tenants outside London were typically facing an average rent of £1,280 per calendar month, representing the 16th consecutive record rise in Rightmove’s analysis. 

An imbalance between supply and demand as the main driver of record-high prices. 

Households are also facing rising energy bills and food costs as part of the cost of living crisis and there is no respite when it comes to housing costs.

But there has been little action on the issues driving rising rents, namely high demand for properties and a lack of supply.

The devolved countries in the UK have engaged with the issue more directly than Westminster. The Scottish government limited rent increases and banned evictions between September 2022 and April 2024 and are planning long-term rent controls. The Welsh government is currently consulting on the idea of bringing in rent controls.

How much is rent in UK?

Around 4.6 million households use the private rented sector in England with 11 million renters.

The private rented sector is now the second biggest tenure of housing in England behind owner occupiers, making around a fifth of all households in the country.

Renters are facing record prices with rents growing at the fastest annual rate for more than a decade.

Average rents increased to £1,293 a month in England, £730 in Wales and £952 in Scotland in the year up to April 2024.

Renters in London are seeing the biggest increases in the UK with rents 10.8% higher than in 2023 at an average price of £2,070.

Record rises have seen renters paying out a higher proportion of their income on housing costs. The English Housing Survey found private renters spend around a third of their household income on rent (rising to 41% in London). That’s more than 10% higher than the proportion paid by owner occupiers. 

It’s not just the private rental sector that has seen rent rises, tenants in social housing saw their rents rise by 7.7% as of April 2024. The rate at which housing associations can increase or decrease rent is set annually at 1% higher than the current CPI inflation rate.

The settlement is set to stay in place until at least April 2026.

Why is UK rent so high?

The short answer to why rent is so high is because there is a shortage of affordable housing.

There is a housing crisis in the UK because not enough homes have been built by successive governments in the last few decades at a time where social housing stock has been sold off to the private sector through Right to Buy or demolished and not replaced.

An estimate from the National Housing Federation and Crisis found around 340,000 new homes should be supplied in England each year with 145,000 them to be affordable.

The Conservative government has previously targeted 300,000 new homes in England – a 2019 manifesto commitment – but is yet to hit that mark. In 2023-24, 235,000 new homes were supplied, but the signs ahead suggest annual delivery could fall.

Meanwhile, areas like Cornwall where tourism has seen a surge in short-term lets through the rise of Airbnb in recent years faces even more pressures on demand.

The private rental sector has picked up the slack in recent years and has doubled in size over the last two decades.

The stiff competition has seen rents on the market increase but many landlords have kept pace by putting up rents for existing tenants.

While generally speaking there is a shortage of private rental properties across the UK, the difference between supply and demand changes from region to region.

The Office for National Statistics collects data of rental prices from properties in England then revisits every 12 months to assess changes in price.

When statisticians returned to homes in February 2023 they found half had experienced a rent increase. The year before 36% of tenants had seen their rent rise.

Will rent prices go down in 2024?

Rising rents are having an impact – the latest Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show the number of tenants evicted by private landlords continuing to surge. 

A total of 92,114 renters have been threatened with a no-fault eviction in the five years since the Tories promised to scrap them while 28,993 people were evicted by county court bailiffs over the same period.

A total of 2,682 evictions recorded between January and March 2024 represented a 19% year-on-year increase.

Rents on new properties are starting to hit the highest point of what tenants can afford, which is seeing rises start to slow. But it is a long way from rents starting to fall.

That’s at a time when one in two renters are already behind on bills, according to StepChange. Peter Tutton, head of policy, public affairs and research at the debt charity, said: “Sky-high rents and wider cost of living pressures mean millions of private renters are scraping by or relying on credit to pay their rent.”

There is reason to think rents could yet rise further.

A landlord exodus could see rents rise despite cost-of-living pressures, particularly as some first-time buyers may no longer be able to afford to stop renting as rising interest rates mean a mortgage is unaffordable.

But the Resolution Foundation is forecasting a different reason for rents to rise and disputes the suggestion of landlords leaving the private rented sector.

The think tank said the surge in rent prices for new tenancies seen in recent times is set to filter into existing rents and could see payments rise by 13% over the next three years.

That is set to outstrip the 7.5% increase in wages forecasted by the Office for Budget Responsibility over the same period.

“With more families renting privately, and renting for longer too, these rent surges are a bigger problem for Britain, and require bolder solutions from policy makers,” said Resolution Foundation’s Cara Pacitti. “Short-term solutions include regular uprating of local housing allowance to support poorer families, and the ultimate longer-term solution is to simply build more homes.”

It feels like the cost of living crisis has lasted an age. Although inflation is nearing normal levels, people have faced prices rising at rates not seen in decades while their wages have struggled to keep up. So is the cost of living crisis nearly over, and will prices ever come down?

Inflation fell to 2.3% in the year to April 2024, down from 3.2% the month before. That’s the lowest level in nearly three years, and close to the Bank of England’s 2% target.

But lower inflation rate doesn’t mean prices are falling – in fact, they are still rising, just at a slower rate.

• Yes, inflation is falling – but nearly 90% of Brits say cost of living crisis is far from over
• Tories are gloating that cost of living crisis is over – they’re wrong: ‘The country is going backwards’

Food and non-alcoholic drink prices are up by 2.9% on last year. But they are 32% higher than they were in July 2021, according to the Resolution Foundation.

People are still feeling the impact of the cost of living crisis. Families are struggling with debt and many have spent far too long sacrificing essentials with nothing left.

So, what does inflation actually mean for you? We break down everything you need to know about whether the cost of living crisis is ever actually going to come to an end. 

What actually is inflation? And what does it mean for me?

The term “inflation” is the technical way of describing the rate at which prices are rising. But what does it actually mean and how does it impact your life? If you’ve noticed the cost of a bunch of bananas or a pack of loo rolls is still getting more expensive and your household bills keep on soaring, that’s because inflation has been high for, well, far too long at this point. The higher the inflation rate, the faster your bills increase.

The inflation rate of 2.3% in April 2024 means prices have risen by 2.3% on average in comparison to what they were in April 2023. Prices are still increasing and will continue to do so as long as inflation is in the positive figures.

If you want to see just how much more expensive your shopping basket is going to be as a result of inflation, you could use a price comparison website like Trolley. It has a grocery price index with data showing how much all your basic supermarket items have increased in recent months. 

Will prices in the UK ever come down?

The simple answer is that UK prices across the board will probably never come down – and almost certainly not by very much – but our wages are supposed to keep up with rising prices to make us less likely to feel the pinch. 

For prices in the UK to fall, inflation would need to go into negative figures, often called deflation. That is a rarity. The last time this happened was in 2015 when prices fell by a grand total of 0.1% because of a sudden drop in the price of oil.

Before that was in 2009, during the global financial crisis, but economists disagree on the details as only one measure of prices was negative. You have to go back to 1960 to find another example of deflation.

But don’t panic. The cost of living crisis will come to an end eventually. Prices will stabilise and grow more slowly and real wages should catch up, with progress being made on this already. 

Recent ONS data shows that annual earnings growth, excluding bonuses, was 6% in the three months to February compared with a year earlier. After taking inflation into account, real pay growth was 2.4%, the highest since July 2021.

However, as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has pointed out, post-tax earnings for the average family remain on course to be £380 per year lower at the beginning of 2025 compared with the start of 2021 – and this gap is not expected to close until 2029.

There has been a rise in unemployment – companies were hit by high interest rates and more than 200,000 job cuts were made between May and July last year. 

In February this year, the UK economic inactivity rate for those aged 16 to 64 years was 22.2%, which means about 275,000 more people than a year ago.

People face debt which has built up as they have struggled to cover soaring costs. A record 6.7 million people in the UK fell behind on bills in the six months up to March 2024.

Interest rates have also led to mortgage payments rising. And as a consequence of this, landlords have increased rents. Many people face higher costs for housing. 

When will the cost of living crisis end?

The cost of living crisis will be over once prices stabilise and wages have risen enough to match. With record rises in wage growth and inflation easing, the cost of living crisis “appears to be coming to an end”.

But around 90% of Brits believe that the cost of living crisis is still ongoing, according to new polling from campaign group Stop the Squeeze.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has said that living standards are expected to recover more quickly than previously forecast. The financial year 2022-203 saw the largest year-on-year drop in living standards since records began in the 1950s.

But it now forecasts real household disposable income per person to recover its pre-pandemic peak by 2025-26, two years earlier than in the November forecast.

But campaigners warn that the “real damage has already been done”.

Megan Davies from the Stop the Squeeze campaign said: “Lower inflation doesn’t mean the cost of living crisis is over, in fact for many families things are going to get worse rather than better.

“It’s no use telling people the economy is booming when they are close to going bust, declaring job done will only fuel the sense that the government doesn’t understand how squeezed people are feeling.

“Instead of a victory lap, we need a real cost of living plan for Britain, focused on addressing the root causes of the crisis and getting people’s incomes up and their bills down.”

The Bank of England predicted that inflation will be back to “normal levels” within the next few months, by which they mean around 2%, but then it will rise slightly.

An inflation rate of 2% is the target the government has set. But it doesn’t mean the cost of those essentials will come down. They’ll keep on rising.

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Will energy bills come down? 

Energy bills dropped in April 2024.

Ofgem’s new energy cap means average households will pay an average of £1,690 each year for their electricity and gas from April, the lowest level in two years. 

That’s down from Ofgem’s price cap of £1,928 in January.

Every three months, the energy regulator reviews and updates the price cap to reflect changes in the cost of energy and inflation. It’s intended to ensure bills are fair.

But it doesn’t mean that your household bills can’t exceed £1,690 – some households will pay more and others less. It all depends on how much energy you use, as well as your circumstances like where you live and the energy efficiency of your property.

It is expected to drop again to £1,574.37 from July, according to analysis from consultancy Cornwall Insight.

“The price cap does not protect those who simply cannot afford the cost of keeping warm,” Adam Scorer, the chief executive of National Energy Action, previously said. “That requires direct government intervention through bill support, social tariffs and energy efficiency.”

The government’s energy rebate scheme, a discount on household energy bills, ended in March last year. This had been a lifeline to many people, helping them save around £66 each month.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “Three years of staggering energy bills have placed an unbearable strain on household finances up and down the country. Household energy debt is at record levels, millions of people are living in cold, damp homes and children are suffering in mouldy conditions.  

“Everybody can see what is happening in Britain’s broken energy system and it is time for politicians to unite to enact the measures needed to end fuel poverty. This includes cross-party consensus on a long-term plan to help all households upgrade their homes and short-term financial support for households most in need.”

Will house prices come down?

House prices are still increasing. Average UK house prices increased by 1.8% in the 12 months to March, according to official figures. The ONS said average house prices are now at £283,000.

House price increase was highest in Yorkshire and the Humber where prices increased by 2.2% in the year to March 2024. In London, however, house prices fell by 0.9%.

Meanwhile, UK private rents increased by 8.9% in the year to April. The Work Foundation has said renters in Britain are having to find £103 more a month than they were last year. 

This is most acute for workers in London where rents are now 10.8% higher than in 2023, and will hit insecure workers hardest as they earn on average £3,276 less than those in secure jobs.

Rebecca Florisson, principal analyst at the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said: “With only 30% of employers preparing to give above inflation pay rises in 2024, many private renters will have little breathing room to pay their increased rental costs which are already outpacing wage increases. 

“This will be particularly challenging for the 1.4 million private renters in severely insecure work, who are most vulnerable to rent hikes while managing irregular hours and variable pay checks.

“There is more bad news for renters as UK house prices have risen by 1.8% on the year, putting the opportunity of buying a house further out of reach for many cash-strapped private renters.”

The number of people in mortgage arrears rose 25% over 2023. Higher mortgage rates could soon hit thousands of households, with almost 900,000 UK mortgages up for renewal in the first three quarters of 2024.

But the latest boost in house prices good news for some in the property sector. Nathan Emerson, the chief execuitive of Propertymark, which represents estate agents, said: “The housing market is a key indicator regarding wider economic health, and it is extremely positive to see further uplift and confidence within the housing sector.

“As inflation tracks downwards, it is widely anticipated the Bank of England will consider a reduction in its base rate and at this point we hope to see lenders offering a much wider range of competitive and highly targeted deals.”

Read more about house prices here.

Are prices rising at the same rate for everyone?

Unfortunately not. Prices are rising even faster for poorer households. This is because the costs of essentials are soaring at higher rates, and low-income families typically spend a greater proportion of their income on these items. 

Food and non-alcoholic drink prices have risen by 2.9% in the year to March, which is still higher than the overall inflation rate. And it’s up by 32% since July 2021.

The Resolution Foundation has found that poorer families are most affected by surging food prices as they spend a far greater share of their family budgets on food (14%, compared to 9% for the highest-income households).

As a result, the effective inflation rate for the poorest tenth of households is around 2% higher than it is for the richest tenth of households.

Benefits are not stretching far enough to help those on the lowest incomes afford the basic essentials.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation posted on X: “The rate of inflation is coming down. But the damage of the last few years remains an open wound that continues to go mostly untreated.

“The prime minister says the plan is working and the chancellor says the economy is returning to full health. However, inflation is not a measure of poverty and celebrating this figure ignores the gravity of the broader context of poverty in the UK.”

The world’s five richest men have £688 billion of wealth between them. That’s boomed by £367bn in the last five years.

Meanwhile, the wealth of the poorest 60% – encompassing nearly five billion people – has fallen. What does this all mean exactly? The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. 

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

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The Scottish government is set to declare a national housing emergency across Scotland just a week after John Swinney was named first minister.

Ministers sounded the alarm on Wednesday (15 May) after a Labour motion risked forcing a Holyrood vote that could have seen Swinney suffer his first defeat since taking over from Humza Yousaf.

The government has been under growing pressure to declare a housing emergency after five local authorities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow councils, made similar pleas for support in the face of rising homelessness. A further eight local authorities are also reportedly at risk of falling into systematic failure.

Around 15,000 households are living in temporary accommodation in Scotland, including 10,000 children, with figures rising 10% in the space of just a year. Official figures also showed the number of people sleeping rough is on the rise, with a 23% increase in the number of people making applications to councils who had slept rough the night before.

Social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, leading the debate, said: “We will continue to do everything we can with the powers at our disposal to make progress – but truly tackling the housing emergency will rely on a joint approach between UK, Scottish and local government.”

Declaring national emergency has been welcomed by homelessness and housing charities but the government has been warned it must be followed up with action.

While the declaration shows intent and a commitment to fix the housing crisis in Scotland, it is not backed up with any increased funding or policies to help people who are suffering.

Shelter Scotland, who issued an open letter to MSPs earlier in the week calling for them to declare the emergency, said the move is a first step that must be accompanied with a housing emergency action plan.

The charity said ministers must reverse the £200m cut to the affordable housing budget announced at the last financial statement.

Big Issue is demanding an end to poverty this general election. Will you sign our open letter to party leaders?

The Shelter plan also called for ministers to buy and build at least 38,500 social homes during the current parliament to help families in temporary accommodation and fully funding local homelessness services.

The government should also target funding at local authorities on the basis of need rather than population to ensure the money reaches the areas that need it most.

Shelter Scotland director Alison Watson said: “I’m delighted to see that there is cross-party support for the deceleration of a housing emergency; this could be an important moment in the fight for housing justice in Scotland.

“We recognise that there are a range of factors driving the housing emergency; more than a decade of austerity, a cost of living crisis, and cuts to the social housing budget in Scotland have all contributed.

“It’s vital that politicians back their words with actions; I call on all parties across Holyrood to work together to urgently deliver the social homes we so desperately need, to ensure that people can keep the homes they have, and to finally bring this devastating housing emergency to an end.”

Crisis also urged ministers to push ahead with plans including in the upcoming Housing Bill to strengthen the law to help people with unstable housing.

The charity said a new, radical, cross-government prevention agenda is also needed to prevent people from falling into homelessness in the first place.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “By declaring a national housing emergency, the Scottish government can help bring about the cross-party support needed to make the homelessness prevention agenda in Scotland a reality.

“We need long-term political commitments to radically reform the housing and homeless system from being about managing a crisis, to a system that acts early to prevent homelessness from arising in the first place.

“Housing has a critical role to play in this. We know what causes homelessness, and we know how to end it. Declaring a national housing emergency is an important moment in time, but it’s the actions that come from this that will matter the most. Investing in housing and reforming the homelessness system to better prevent homelessness should be top of the list. We can’t afford to wait.”

Housing policy has been a devolved matter in Scotland for 25 years, but the Scottish independence-seeking SNP said Westminster policies were partly to blame.

An amendment to the Labour motion from housing minister Paul McLennan said the current situation “is due to a combination of factors outside the Scottish government’s powers”.

McLennan cited UK government austerity policies, soaring inflation and the increased cost of living, labour shortages following Brexit and the freeze to local housing allowance rates among the factors.

He said the Scottish government will invest £600m in affordable housing and £90m in discretionary housing payments in 2024-25. McLennan added that the Housing Bill will introduce rent controls to tackle rising rent levels and the continued government focus will be on delivering 110,000 affordable homes.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

Free school meals are a lifeline for millions of families across the UK, guaranteeing eligible children a hot and nutritious meal every school day.

But charities have warned the scheme does not go nearly far enough to help as families struggle to afford the essentials and 4.3 million children face poverty.

There are around 900,000 children are living in poverty but not eligible for free lunches, according to the Food Foundation.

It is largely a postcode lottery, with some areas of the UK providing meals to all primary school children while others are left behind.

Campaigners, politicians and charities are calling on the government to go further and make free school meals available for all primary school children.

• Free school meals for all would generate billions for the economy. Here’s why
• Are free school meals offered in school holidays?

This includes the Big Issue, which is urging the government to provide universal free meals to all school-age children, including outside of term-time.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to apply for free school meals, whether your child is eligible, if they are available over the school holidays and how the scheme differs depending on where you live. 

Who gets free school meals in the UK?

Whether your child is eligible for free school meals depends on their age, where you live and your income. Your child may be eligible if you are claiming any of the following benefits:

• Income support
• Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
• The guaranteed element of pension credit
• Income-related employment and support allowance
• Working tax credit run-on – paid for four weeks after stopping work
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 
• Child tax credit, as long as you don’t also receive working tax credit and earn no more than £16,190 (£17,005 in Scotland). In Scotland, you can get free meals if you get child tax credit and working tax credit, but you have to be earning less than £7,920
• Universal credit, if someone applied since April 2018 and their income is less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits). If someone applied for UC before then, there is no income threshold. In Scotland, your monthly earned income on UC must be lower than £660. In Northern Ireland, the threshold is almost twice that of England and Scotland at £14,000.

Children who receive any of these benefits themselves are also eligible for school lunches. If you are 16 to 18 and in receipt of any of the benefits in your own right, you can claim free meals. 

If your child is not eligible for free meals based on your income, they may still get universal meals if they are under a certain age and living in certain parts of the UK.

Who gets universal free school meals? 

Many of the youngest children in the UK are also eligible for free school meals regardless of their parents’ income.

In England, all children in reception, year one and year two are guaranteed a free lunch (and sometimes milk) as part of the universal infant free school meals scheme. 

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has announced free meals will be provided in all primary schools across London for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic years. Around 287,000 children are currently benefitting from the scheme, according to the Mayor.

In Scotland, children at local council schools can get free lunches during term-time in primary one to five.

The Scottish government has also committed to a phased approach to expanding universal free school meals to all children in primary school.

The next phase of the expansion programme is that all primary six and seven pupils in receipt of the Scottish child payment will get free lunches from February 2025.

The Welsh government has announced that all children in primary school will receive free meals by September 2024.

Some areas are already offering universal free meals to all primary school children. Your local authority will provide information on when the scheme will be rolled out in your child’s school. 

Universal free school meals are not offered in Northern Ireland. 

How many children get free school meals?

Just over two million children are eligible for free meals in England, according to the latest government figures. 

This is 23.8% of state school pupils. Demand is highest in the north east, where around 30.4% of children currently qualify for free meals, compared to just 18.8% in the south east.

This includes 1.3 million infant pupils who would not usually be eligible for free school meals but get them under the universal scheme.

It’s estimated that around 100,000 children in Northern Ireland are entitled to free meals – that is around 30% of the total school population. 

Just over 100,000 pupils were eligible for free school meals in Wales in the academic year 2021/2022. This has grown significantly since then, and all primary school pupils in Wales are set to get free lunches by September 2024.

According to the Scottish Government’s most recent data, more than 230,000 pupils in Scotland are taking up free school meals.

How do I apply for free school meals?

In most areas people can apply through their local authority’s website. You can find out more about how to apply if you live in England through the government’s website here, which will link you to your council’s free school meals page. There’s a different process to apply depending on where you live. Find out more information on how to apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If you’re not sure what support you might be eligible for, it’s worth contacting your council directly. You can also contact Citizens Advice or speak to your school if you need extra financial support and want to be shown in the right direction.

How much do free school meals cost?

It’s estimated that every free school meal costs around £2.65, according to the London mayor’s office.

That means every school day, the government is spending a maximum of £5.3million on free school meals in England. So each academic year, that could cost the government £1billion (based on an average school year being 195 days).

But research has found that free school meals could generate billions for the UK economy in return.

Commissioned by the Impact for Urban Health and analysed by PwC in 2022, the analysis found for every £1 invested in providing meals to all children in households on universal credit, £1.38 would be returned over the next 20 years through “core benefits” across social, health and educational areas. 

• These countries offer free school meals for all – so why can’t the UK?
• Why MP Zarah Sultana is fighting for free school meals

This would result in £8.9bn for the economy in core benefits, helping with savings in schools, increased lifetime earnings and contributions, increased savings on food costs for families and savings for the NHS.

A further £16.3bn of indirect benefits could come through wider economic and supply chain gains, such as growing the school food economy through expansion of school catering employment opportunities, resulting in £25.2bn total potential benefits. 

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Will free school meals be offered in the school holidays?

The government does not directly fund free school meals or food vouchers over the school holidays. Your child might be offered them by your local council, but it depends on where you live. 

Many councils across England have decided to create their own meal schemes during the school holidays, financed by the household support fund. You can find out more about what support is available in your area through your local council’s website.

The government funds councils to deliver a ‘holiday activities and food’ scheme over the school holidays. Through this, councils provide healthy food and activities for children who are eligible for free meals. You can find out more about the scheme here. 

The Scottish Government’s website says that if you get free school meals, you may also be able to get help during the school holidays. Councils across Scotland are offering payments to households on eligible benefits.

Free school meals have been provided throughout the school holidays in Wales since 2020, but the scheme was cut off in June last year and it has not been continued.

The government in Northern Ireland also axed “holiday hunger” payments for children entitled to free school meals. Families of 96,000 have received payments of £27 every fortnight during the school holidays since 2020. But the scheme will no longer go ahead.

When were free school meals first introduced?

Free school meals have a lengthy history in the UK. In 1941, the first National School Meals policy was introduced, with dietary guidelines on protein, fat and calories.

Before this, the Education Act in 1906 allowed councils to provide food to pupils, but they rarely did. Only in 1944 was it legislated that they must give good quality, free meals to children. This was shortly followed by a similar ruling for free milk in 1946.

In 1944, the provision of a school meal that was “suitable in all respects as the main meal of the day” and milk became a statutory duty for local authorities under the new Education Act.

But in June 1971 Margaret Thatcher, education secretary in Edward Heath’s government, put forward her plan to remove the provision of free school milk for over-sevens at junior school. Although unpopular with many, and leading to the jibe “Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher”, it became law in September.

Her government also retracted nutrition requirements for school lunches. It triggered a downturn in the quality of food children from worse-off backgrounds had access to. Finally in 2001, school meals were once again held to national nutritional standards.

What did Marcus Rashford do with free school meals in the UK?

In 2020, footballer Marcus Rashford fought alongside charities and successfully convinced the government to offer meal vouchers over the summer holidays to 1.3 million children in England.

Working on behalf of his Child Food Poverty Taskforce, he then wrote to the prime minister demanding free school meals be extended to all children whose families receive universal credit, regardless of income.

He led the taskforce in calling for the holiday school meals scheme – which saw vouchers and parcels given to eligible children when schools were closed during the pandemic – to be extended for another three years. Making free lunches and the Healthy Start milk and veg scheme available during holidays would cost around £1.1bn, they estimated, roughly 1%of the education budget.

“Equality of opportunity” begins with guaranteeing children can eat well “at least once a day”, the joint letter read.

“Better jobs are the route out of poverty, and the virtue of these children’s food schemes is that when working families shore up their income they can buy school and holiday meals themselves.”

But Rishi Sunak, then chancellor, rejected the calls ahead of the autumn budget in October 2021. He said furlough ending at the start of the month meant other support schemes, including free school meals provision outside of term time, should end too. Families can rely on holiday and activities clubs instead, Sunak added.

What is next for the free school meals campaign?

The Big Issue is now calling for universal free school meals for all school-age children, including during the holidays. It comes as part of a call for the new government to break the cycle of poverty and protect young people and future generations following the general election.

This follows campaigners consistently saying that the government is not doing enough to expand the free school meals scheme.

In June 2022, Henry Dimbleby, the lead adviser on the government’s national food strategy, recommended the scheme be extended to all children under 16 living in households earning less than £20,000. 

This would have cost £544m a year and would have meant feeding an additional 1.1 million children. But the government has ignored this recommendation. Green MP Caroline Lucas described the strategy as an “unforgivably wasted opportunity”.

Food charities and organisations including the Food Foundation, Chefs in Schools and School Food Matters launched a joint campaign in September calling on the government to urgently extend eligibility to all children from families in receipt of universal credit. 

The campaign – Feed the Future – was  backed by celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Tom Kerridge and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. 

The mayor of London has called on the government to provide free school meals to all pupils at primary school – as he has done in the capital – but says ministers have “failed to act”.

“The cost of living crisis means families and children across our city are in desperate need of additional support,” Khan said. “I have repeatedly urged the government to provide free school meals to help already stretched families, but they have simply failed to act.” 

Campaigners say more needs to be done to help those outside the capital. “This is a monumental step forward for safeguarding children’s diets, well-being and learning across the capital,” Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, said. “However, outside of London, hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty still don’t qualify for a free school meal. 

“Central government must now honour its levelling up commitment by investing in free school meal expansion for every community. We know this policy has resounding support in every corner of the UK.”

The National Education Union (NEU) has a campaign, No Child Left Behind, calling for free school meals for all children in primary school in England.

Zarah Sultana, the Labour MP for Coventry South, has backed calls for the government to provide more meals to every child in primary school. She said this “would ease the pressure for every family, and help ensure every child has the basics to learn, grow and thrive”.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this topic? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

Homelessness is a big issue affecting hundreds of thousands of people across the UK and, in recent times, the numbers have only been increasing in 2024.

The cost of living crisis and the housing crisis in the UK means more people are facing homelessness. It’s an issue that should remain at the forefront of our minds as a society, not just when World Homeless Day comes around on 10 October every year.

Despite living in the world’s sixth biggest economy, people are still living with no place to call their home in this country, whether it be sleeping rough, sofa surfing or any other type of homelessness. This injustice must end.

Some leaders have pledged to end it. The Westminster government has pledged to end rough sleeping in England by the end of 2024 – a milestone that is almost certain to be missed.

Meanwhile, London mayor Sadiq Khan promised to end rough sleeping in the city by 2030 before his re-election. Big Issue Group’s blueprint for change is calling for that goal to be replicated across the UK.

But before you can tackle a problem, you must first learn the scale of the issue. That’s why it is vital that we know the facts and figures about homelessness.

Here are the numbers you need to know:

How many people are homeless?

• An estimated 3,898 people were counted as sleeping rough across England on a single night in autumn 2023. The official rough sleeping snapshot was up more than a quarter on the 3,069 people counted in 2022 and is more than double the 1,768 people on the streets in 2010 when the Conservatives first came to power.
• The majority of people sleeping rough in England are male, aged over 26 years old and from the UK. Meanwhile the Office for National Statistics found men who are living on the street outnumber women at a ratio of six to one.
• The London-only Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain) figures are considered to be more accurate than the official one-night count. The most recent annual count showed 10,053 rough sleepers spotted on London’s streets between April 2022 and March 2023. A total of 4,118 people were counted between January and March 2024 for the most recent quarterly update, rising by a third in just a year.
• In Wales, the official rough sleeping count was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, official monthly management statistics have taken its place. The most recent count showed an estimated 121 people were sleeping rough across the country as of February 2024.
• Scotland doesn’t use the same method as England and Wales. The most recent statistics showed 2,438 households who applied for council homelessness support between April 2022 and March 2023 reported sleeping rough during the previous three months. Meanwhile, 1,500 households reported being street homeless the night before they applied
• Women are often missing from rough sleeping counts because they tend to be less visible than male rough sleepers due to the risk of violence on the streets. That means women are more likely to seek shelter in cafes, transport hubs or other places rather than bedding down outside.
• A coalition of homelessness and women’s organisations in London joined forces to tackle the issue in October 2022. Their first national census across England found the number of people sleeping rough could be as much as nine times higher than the official rough sleeping count. In the 41 areas covered in the census, frontline teams found 816 female rough sleepers compared to just 189 covered in the official count.
• As for wider homelessness in England, English councils supported 317,430 households to prevent or relieve homelessness between in 2023 – a record high.
• The number of households living in temporary accommodation in England is also at an all-time high. As of the end of 2023, 112,660 households were living in temporary accommodation, including 146,800 children.
• For Wales, the latest statutory homelessness figures showed 15,306 applications for support from local authorities with homelessness between April and September 2023. Meanwhile, 5,700 households were living in temporary accommodation.
• Scotland’s latest official statistics revealed that 30,272 open homelessness cases were on local authority books between April and September 2023. A further 15,625 households were living in temporary accommodation, including 9,860 children, up 8% in a year.

Spending on homelessness

• The UK government is spending £2billion over three years in tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. That breaks down to around £640m a year as it looks to deliver on a Conservative manifesto promise to end rough sleeping by 2024.
• As part of its strategy to achieve that goal, £500m will be spent on the Rough Sleeping Initiative over the next three years to offer 14,000 beds for rough sleepers and 3,000 staff to provide support. A further £200m will be spent on the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme to provide 2,400 long-term supported homes for people with the most complex needs.
• Homeless Link, the national membership charity for frontline homelessness organisations, criticised the UK government for not uplifting funding to match rising inflation. The group found there were 39% fewer accommodation providers and 26% fewer bed spaces for people experiencing homelessness in England in 2021 compared to 2010 with funding cited as one of the main reasons for the decline.
• The Scottish government has a multi-year Ending Homelessness Together fund of £100m which is being used to deliver on its strategy to end homelessness between 2018/19 and 2025/26.
• Wales, too, has a strategy to end homelessness. The Ending Homelessness Action Plan is backed by £30m in funding over five years.

Homelessness and health

• Three quarters of homeless people quizzed in a 2014 Homeless Link survey reported a physical health problem
• Meanwhile, 80% of respondents reported some form of mental health issue, while 45% had been officially diagnosed with a condition
• 39% said they take drugs or are recovering from a drug problem, while 27% have or are recovering from an alcohol problem.
• 35% had been to A&E and 26% had been admitted to hospital in the six months before they took part in the survey

What do people think about homelessness?

The general public consider homelessness a serious problem in the UK, according to a poll carried out in January 2023 by Ipsos Mori and the Centre for Homelessness Impact.

Of the 2,152 UK adults quizzed for the poll, three-quarters said they expected the issue to increase in the country they live in over the next 12 months.

However, there were misconceptions around the reality of homelessness in the UK. People expected just over half of those currently experiencing homelessness to be living with alcohol or drug dependency when in reality that is not the case, even for rough sleepers.

There remains a stigma around homelessness. A recent poll from homelessness charity House of St Barnabas found 70% of Brits don’t consider unsuitable accommodation a form of homelessness, despite lacking a secure place to live fitting the definition of statutory homelessness.

Less than half of those quizzed considered sofa-surfing or staying with relatives or friends as homelessness while 82% told the charity they wouldn’t know what to do if they found out someone who knew was homeless.

What is hidden homelessness?

Hidden homelessness is the term used to describe people who do not have a permanent home and instead stay with friends or family.

Also known as sofa surfing, many people in this situation may not consider themselves homeless and may not seek support from services. This makes it difficult to know exactly how many people are homeless, especially as they are not on the streets like rough sleepers and, therefore, not visible to frontline homelessness outreach workers.

Homelessness charity Crisis has estimated that as many as 62% of single homeless people do not show up on official figures and run the risk of slipping through the cracks.

The Office for National Statistics carried out a review into the scale of hidden homelessness across the UK in March 2023 but statisticians noted that the available information means “it is not currently possible to estimate the true scale of hidden homelessness across the UK”.

However, the review showed that hidden homelessness could take many forms: whether it be sofa surfing, living in unconventional structures like mobile homes or outbuildings, squatting or overcrowded accommodation.

The review also showed that women, young people and ethnic minority groups are more likely to find themselves affected by hidden homelessness.

Statisticians noted that only 15% of women were included in the government’s official rough sleeping snapshot and said it was “unlikely to reflect the true scale of women sleeping rough”.

As for young people, the ONS referred to Centrepoint’s research from 2019 that showed only 5% of the 91,521 people aged under 25 who approached their local authority for help with homelessness were identified as homeless according to the statutory definition. This means young people who do not get support are forced to find alternative accommodation and more likely to experience hidden homelessness, researchers concluded.

There was less data available to show the scale of ethnic minority households experiencing hidden homelessness. But the ONS did refer to the English Housing Survey’s findings showing that minority households are more likely to live in overcrowded households.

The ONS did confirm it is currently working on ways to count the number of women experiencing hidden homelessness. Statisticians are also looking at examples of how other countries are tackling the issue, such as Denmark’s methods of mapping homelessness and Australia’s use of its census.

How do most people who are homeless die?

Nearly one in three people die from treatable conditions, according to a 2019 University College London study. Researchers warned that more preventative work was needed to protect physical health and long-term condition management, especially for more common conditions such as cardiovascular disease.

Homeless deaths have only been counted in recent years. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s pioneering Dying Homeless project counted the deaths of 796 people in 18 months before handing over the project to the Museum of Homelessness in March 2019.

MOH’s count recorded 1,313 deaths across the UK in 2022 – that represented a 2% rise compared to 2021 when 1,286 people died.

MOH was not able to establish the cause of death for every person who died in 2022. But the group did find 36% of deaths where a cause was established were related to drugs and alcohol and 10% died by suicide. Both rates were similar to 2021 levels.

MOH director Matt Turtle said: “With a heavy heart we expect to report more of the same in 2024, but with our colleagues we will continue to do what we can to save lives.”

Overall, more than 4,000 deaths across the UK have been counted by the Dying Homeless project since 2019.

• How does homelessness differ for women?
• How do people become homeless?
• What should you do if you see a homeless person?

MOH used a combination of freedom of information requests, local news reports and submissions from the public to produce a count covering all kinds of homelessness, ranging from rough sleeping to people living in hostels and temporary accommodation. That method differs from the official counts where death certificates are analysed for signs a person died without a stable home.

The first official Office for National Statistics figures for England and Wales arrived three months before the end of TBIJ’s project, reporting 597 estimated deaths in 2017. The most recent count reported 688 people died without a secure home in 2020 with Covid accounting for just 13 deaths.

The ONS consulted on plans to discontinue homeless deaths statistics in early 2024 – citing concerns over accuracy – but ultimately U-turned following calls for the figures to remain.

The first-ever official homeless deaths count in Scotland arrived in 2020 using a similar methodology to the ONS.

The latest count reported an almost-20% increase in deaths with an estimated 256 people dying without a stable home in 2020. Despite the pandemic, no deaths were attribute to Covid-19 with drug-related deaths dominating the figures.

How can we stop homelessness?

Homelessness is a complex issue and, as a result, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

It takes effort to remove the reason why someone is homeless and also treatment for the trauma and mental toll of homelessness.

More broadly, there also needs to be efforts to address the systemic drivers of homelessness and that also takes political will to focus the sufficient resources in the areas where they will make a difference.

Homelessness experts, charities and organisations propose plenty of changes to how society operates to end homelessness for good. That includes tackling drivers of homelessness evictions from private rental homes, benefits that don’t keep pace with inflation and unaffordable housing. Other solutions, like Housing First, are aimed at helping people off the streets.

You can keep the pressure on the politicians too by writing to your local MP, AM or MSP urging them to keep ending homelessness top of the agenda in parliament.

You can also give your time or money to volunteer and donate to help homeless charities doing vital work to help and house people affected by homelessness. There are tons of ways to help, even just by donating your coat to help out in winter.

If you see a person experiencing homelessness on the street in England and Wales, you can contact Streetlink to connect them with support services.

• How many people are homeless in the UK? And what can you do about it?
• How many empty homes are there in the UK?
• What is the main cause of homelessness?

And, of course, you can buy or subscribe to The Big Issue magazine to help us support vendors all over the UK, giving them the means to lift themselves out of poverty.

Big Issue Group is also going beyond the magazine in its mission of Changing Lives Through Enterprise. Find out more here.

The number of people who are homeless in the UK is hitting new record highs in 2024.

The scale of homelessness is a notoriously difficult thing to quantify — it’s a moving target and often hidden from view. There are many different types of homelessness, for starters. It’s not just rough sleeping — there are people trapped in temporary accommodation or hostels and shelters. 

And it is not always a visible problem. Hidden homelessness, also known as sofa surfing, is virtually impossible to count as people staying at friends or relatives homes are out of sight and often don’t consider themselves to be homeless.

Big Issue Group is committed to tackling poverty and preventing homelessness. BIG’s recent blueprint for change has called on a nationwide target to end rough sleeping in the UK by 2030. That echoes London mayor Sadiq Khan’s pledge in the English capital.

The Westminster government had targeted ending rough sleeping by 2024 but now looks almost certain to miss that milestone. But, with the impact of the cost of living crisis, scores of UK households remain at risk of falling into homelessness.

It is vital that we have an accurate idea of how many people are homeless in the UK – if you don’t know how many people need help, how can you help them?

How many people are homelessness in the UK?

As we know, homelessness is difficult to quantify. There are many different types of homelessness; as well as rough sleeping, many people may find themselves stuck in temporary, insecure accommodation like hostels or shelters.

There are currently 112,660 households in England living in temporary accommodation, including 146,800 children. The sheer number of people living in temporary accommodation, which has increased by 10% in the last year alone, has seen councils warning that they are being left on the brink of bankruptcy as a result. 

Meanwhile in Scotland, 15,625 households are living in temporary accommodation while in Wales the number is 5,700 households.

Another method of counting how many people experience homelessness is keeping track of how many households contacted councils for help, known as statutory homelessness.

A total of 317,430 households needed support from councils in England in 2023 – the highest on record.

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No-fault (section 21) evictions are a leading driver of homelessness and the Westminster government promised to ban them in 2019. 

Ministers are set to axe no-fault evictions in the upcoming Renters’ Reform Bill – although there is no date for when the ban will come in as the legislation continues its passage through Parliament – but rates are still surging in the meantime.

A total of 25,910 households in England needed council support to avoid becoming homeless after receiving a section 21 notice in 2023, which is also a record high.

As for Scotland’s latest official homelessness statistics, 30,272 open homelessness cases were on local authority books between April and September 2023.

In Wales, the latest statutory homelessness figures showed 15,306 applications for support from local authorities with homelessness between April and September 2023.

As for the number of people rough sleeping, the latest official count estimated a total of 3,898 people were sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2023 in England. That stat is up by more than a quarter on the 3,069 people in 2022 and more than double the 1,768 counted in 2010 when the Tories came to power.

Traditionally, the official rough sleeping figures are often thought to be a considerable underestimate as they rely on single-night counts and estimates by local authorities.

The Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain) is thought to be a more accurate method. This tracks the flow of rough sleeping over a longer period with multiple agencies reporting contact with people on the streets. However it only currently operates in London.

Nevertheless, annual Chain figures show a much higher number of people sleeping rough and that number has increased sharply in the last year. A total of 10,053 people were spotted sleeping rough on the streets of London between April 2022 and March 2023.

More recent quarterly Chain statistics counted 4,118 people sleeping rough in London between January and March 2024 up by a third in a year.

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In Wales, the official count has been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic but recent management statistics show that an estimated 121 people are sleeping rough around the country as of February 2024.

Scotland doesn’t use the same method as England and Wales. Scottish councils measure how many people apply to them for help with rough sleeping.

In 2022-23, 2,438 households reported sleeping rough in the three months before making a homelessness application to their local council while 1,500 households said they’d been rough sleeping the night before. Both of these figures are lower than before the pandemic.

Both of these figures are lower than any previously recorded since records began in 2002/03.

Counting the number of people rough sleeping is notoriously difficult. Often people can be hidden meaning they are  missing from statistics.

This is a particular issue for women who face an increased risk of violence and often choose not to bed down on the streets, instead seeking shelter in places like transport hubs, cafes or even choosing to walk all night instead.

A coalition of homelessness and women’s organisations in London joined forces to tackle the issue in October 2022.

Their first national census across England found the number of people sleeping rough could be as much as nine times higher than the official rough sleeping count. In the 41 areas covered in the census, frontline teams found 816 female rough sleepers compared to just 189 covered in the official count.

People who might be described as “hidden homeless” are often slipping through the cracks. Crisis has estimated that as many as 62% of single homeless people do not show up on official figures.

The Office for National Statistics carried out a review into the scale of hidden homelessness across the UK in March 2023 but statisticians noted that the available information means “it is not currently possible to estimate the true scale of hidden homelessness across the UK”.

However, the review did lay out the many types of hidden homelessness, including sofa surfing with friends or relatives, living in unconventional structures like mobile homes or a tent or overcrowded accommodation or squatting in disused buildings.

ONS statisticians also revealed that women, young people and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to experience hidden homelessness and, therefore, missing from homelessness statistics. This could mean they are unable to access support to help them into a secure, permanent home.

Which country has no homeless people?

Homelessness is an issue that affects every country and there are different approaches to tackling the issue too.

Finland has perhaps come closest to solving the problem of street homelessness. Their adoption of the Housing First model over the last 30 years has seen rough sleepers given a home alongside intensive wraparound support to help them adapt to their new surroundings and to deal with issues like addiction or mental health problems.

The Housing First model has become a big part of the UK’s response to homelessness and has proven particularly successful in Scotland with England and Wales developing programmes.

But the Finnish success story is the result of a 30-year commitment by successive governments and it remains to be seen whether the Housing First model can play such a significant role in ending homelessness in the UK.

Finland was cited as a benchmark as Prince William launched his Homewards programme to end homelessness.

The Westminster government announced it was extending rough sleeping pilots in the West Midlands, Manchester and Merseyside as part of the strategy to end rough sleeping by 2024.

England is lagging behind its smaller neighbours in Scotland and Wales, according to Crisis’ Homelessness Monitor report covering Great Britain.

England has much higher rates of the worst forms of homelessness than the devolved nations and more of its homelessness spending is spent on temporary accommodation compared to prevention and support, academics found

What can you do about it?

If you see someone sleeping rough in England and Wales, send details of where and when you see them, as well as a brief description of the person, to StreetLink using their website. Scotland has no centralised service so you should check for contact details of your local council.

Alerts are monitored by volunteers at St Mungo’s who check information and forward them on to outreach teams. Every day hundreds of alerts are received by StreetLink.

And, of course, for more than 30 years The Big Issue has been on the frontline offering a way out, and one of the best things you can do is to buy this magazine every week, take your copy and support your vendor as they work hard to earn their way out of the poverty trap.

This article is updated regularly with the latest information.

The government is plotting reforms to the benefits system which could impact millions of disabled people across the UK.

Changes to disability benefits could see regular personal independence payments (PIP) replaced with one-off grants or vouchers to cover costs of things like home adaptations or appliances.

The plans have been called a “reckless assault” on disabled people by charities, which fear people will be plunged into deeper poverty and face further hostility as a result of government rhetoric.

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There are more than three million people in the UK who are currently eligible for PIP, a benefit which helps people afford these extra costs of having a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability, as well as helping people who have difficulty doing everyday tasks or getting around.

There will be a 12-week consultation into the plans, during which people are invited to share their views around the proposals. The Modernising Support green paper, published on Monday (29 April), lays out the plans in full.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “It’s clear that our disability benefits system isn’t working in the way it was intended, and we’re determined to reform it to ensure it’s sustainable for the future, so we can continue delivering support to those who genuinely need it most. 

“Today’s green paper marks the next chapter of our welfare reforms and is part of our plan to make the benefits system fairer to the taxpayer, better targeted to individual needs and harder to exploit by those who are trying to game the system. We’re inviting views from across society to ensure everyone has a chance to make their voices heard and shape our welfare reforms.”

It comes on top of changes already announced around the health element of universal credit, which will see hundreds of thousands of disabled and unwell people miss out on £400 a month by 2029.

The government has also announced that it plans to increase sanctions and conditionality to make it harder to access benefits.

Of course, it’s important to remember that the Conservative government may not be in power by the end of this year, and eyes will be on Labour to see how they react to the plans. The government is also a long way off making these – pretty huge – changes to the benefit system.

Here is everything we know so far about the potential changes to the disability benefits system – including how PIP cash payments could be replaced with grants and vouchers, the changes to eligibility criteria and what Labour has said.

Regular PIP payments could be replaced with one-off grants

The DWP has said it plans to explore “alternative approaches to support” which will replace regular PIP cash payments.

It is considering using one-off grants to help people with significant costs such as home adaptations or expensive equipment, as well as giving vouchers to contribute towards specific costs, or reimbursing claimants who provide receipts for purchases of aids, appliances or services.

The DWP is also considering cutting PIP for some people who have “lower” costs, claiming they “may have better outcomes from improved access to treatment and support than from a cash payment”.

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It claims this would offer more “tailored support” – but the reality is that the government is using language which claims to help disabled people, when the reality is that they could have vital income taken away.

The government cites New Zealand as an example, where the amount of disability allowance is based on a person’s extra costs which are verified by a health practitioner. Norway’s basic benefit requires people to provide a letter from a GP outlining the nature of their condition and the associated extra costs. 

But this isn’t dissimilar from the current PIP assessment system, through which people provide (often extensive) medical evidence and are scored in a points-based system. This then provides the basis for the amount they get in disability benefits.

The PIP eligibility criteria could be changed

The DWP claims that “criteria currently used in PIP assessments do not always fully reflect how a disability or health condition impacts on a person’s daily life”.

It gets this right, at least. People with disabilities and serious mental illnesses are often denied PIP, as the Big Issue has extensively reported.

The trouble is, considering the rhetoric the government has used around the disability benefits system, it is likely that it is plotting to tighten the benefits system so that fewer people are entitled to PIP – especially those with mental illness – rather than make it more compassionate.

 Just 41% of people are awarded PIP if claiming for the first time, but the success rate of those who appeal PIP decisions is around 70%. As the Big Issue has previously reported, the appeals process can be “traumatic”, lengthy and put people off challenging their decision.

Some claimants have been driven to “psychological trauma to the point of being suicidal”.

The DWP has forked out more than £350m over the last decade in staff costs in an attempt to uphold decisions about personal independence payments (PIP), according to freedom of information requests obtained by the Big Issue last year.

The DWP claims it is considering whether the thresholds for entitlement correctly reflect the need for ongoing financial support. This includes considering if current descriptors – such as the need for aids and appliances – are good indicators of extra costs.

We know that disability does come with hefty extra costs. On average, disabled households (with at least one disabled adult or child) need an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households, according to Scope.

PIP helps people afford these extra costs of having a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability, as well as helping people who have difficulty doing everyday tasks or getting around because of their condition.

The DWP is also looking to change the qualifying period for PIP to understand what impact an illness will have on them over time and consider whether it should change the test used to determine if a condition is likely to continue long-term.

Again, it could be a good thing and mean that people don’t have to be reassessed if they have a long-term health condition, but there’s not an awful lot of trust that the DWP will make this compassionate step.

The PIP assessment could be reformed and removed entirely for people who are severely ill

The government’s briefing says: “PIP is over a decade old and a lot has changed since the assessment was developed. We know some people continue to find PIP assessments difficult and repetitive, and view the assessment as too subjective.

“We will consider whether some people could receive PIP without needing an assessment by basing entitlement on specific health conditions or disabilities supported by medical evidence.”

This is potentially a welcome move, if carried out in the right way, and it’s a good acknowledgement that the PIP system isn’t working in its current form. The PIP assessments can be “traumatic” for people – the Big Issue once spoke to a domestic violence victim who felt forced to regurgitate her experiences.

The assessments can lead to fears that their benefits are going to be stripped away, and charities have long called for a reform to the system.

But, alongside the DWP threatening to replace PIP and stop people’s cash payments, an end to the assessments is hardly a welcome move. Instead, it is heightening anxiety for disabled people.

Disability activist Ben Claimant said: “I find it very upsetting and it makes me want to scream. I am already seeing distress from my disabled friends. I’m really worried these welfare reforms will have dangerous, tragic consequences for some of those people.”

The DWP is also looking at whether evidence of a formal diagnosis by a medical expert should be a requirement to be assessed as eligible for PIP, which it claims will make it “easier and quicker for people with severe or terminal conditions to get the vital support they need”. It does not say what will be used instead of a formal diagnosis by a medical expert.

What has Labour said about the proposed changes to PIP?

Labour is also plotting reforms to the benefit system to get more people into work, but its MPs are calling for a more “compassionate” approach.

Labour’s shadow disability minister Vicky Foxcroft said: “PIP was created by the Tories but isn’t working for disabled people (or the taxpayer). DWP too often fails to get decisions right first time, leading to lengthy delays, reassessments and a stressful appeals process.

“On top of that, the Tories have run the health and care system into the ground. Labour will support disabled people to live independently, enable as many as possible to work and fix the NHS to make sure people get the treatment they need.

“We will be looking at the consultation launched today in close detail, along with the Modernising Support green paper. Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions should not be scapegoated for problems Rishi Sunak and Mel Stride’s own party has created.”

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