Liverpool steps up its fight to end homelessness with bold new plan

Liverpool City Council is stepping up its efforts to tackle homelessness with a fresh five-year plan aiming to make sure no one is left without a safe place to stay.

A new Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy covering 2025 to 2030 is set to go before the Council’s Cabinet, laying out an ambitious goal to make homelessness in the city rare, brief and never repeated.

The plan has been shaped with help from residents, local charities and people who know first-hand what it means to have nowhere to go. It promises to focus on early help, better housing options and more support for people rebuilding their lives.

One of the biggest changes will be a push to move away from expensive and unsuitable B&Bs and hotels, which are often used as a last resort. The Council wants to secure better temporary accommodation so families and individuals have somewhere more stable while they find a permanent home.

The need has never been clearer. More than 1,700 households in Liverpool are currently living in temporary accommodation — including over 500 children — with many stuck in hotels because of a lack of other options. The cost to the Council has rocketed from £250,000 in 2019 to an estimated £28 million by next year.

The new approach focuses on stopping homelessness before it starts, improving access to advice and housing, and working closely with charities, housing providers and the NHS to make sure support is there when people need it.

Councillor Hetty Wood, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “Homelessness doesn’t discriminate — it can happen to anyone, from families fleeing violence to young people leaving care or people facing eviction.

“This new strategy is about giving people dignity and real chances to rebuild their lives. It’s about listening to those who’ve been through it and making sure the help on offer actually works for them. Everyone in this city deserves somewhere safe to call home.”

The new plans form part of the Council’s wider mission to help communities thrive and make sure everyone has access to safe, secure and genuinely affordable housing.

Need help with housing or want more information? Head to the Liverpool City Council website.

Keep up to date with your news around Liverpool here.

Find out what’s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide. 

From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North – visit thenorthernguide.com and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram HERE.