The cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy is backed by £2bn and includes £500m over three years for the Rough Sleeping Initiative, which aims to “help provide 14,000 beds for rough sleepers and 3,000 staff to provide tailored support across England”.

This includes helping individuals find work, manage their finances and access mental and physical health services.

An extra 2,400 long-term supported homes for those with the most complex needs, including young people, will also be provided, through a new £200n Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme. This is on top of 3,200 homes that have already been delivered.

Government is also expanding its Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant programme to an additional 20 areas in England, bringing the total to 83. The scheme provides funding for substance misuse treatment services for people sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough.

The government is also extending the Housing First Pilots in the West Midlands, Manchester and Liverpool, as well as more help for prison leavers.

The second phase of the Accommodation for Ex-Offenders programme – to be launched later this year – will help councils provide rental deposits, landlord incentives and dedicated support staff.

It builds on the 2021/22 scheme, which helped 145 councils across England and Wales provide support.

And the government is helping to put night shelters on a more secure and stable footing by “increasing the variety and quality of services so they can be relied on for the long term.”

To improve transparency and accountability, the government will publish quarterly data showing progress.

Finally, the government has committed to ending the “outdated” Vagrancy Act as “no-one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live”.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Greg Clark said: “Ending rough sleeping in this parliament is an important manifesto commitment.

“We’ve made great strides towards that goal in the last few years, and today’s strategy backed by £2bn of support will give some of the most vulnerable people in our society a roof over their heads and targeted support so they can rebuild their lives.

“The full weight of government is behind this very necessary pledge and this landmark strategy will give us the right tools to identify people at risk of rough sleeping earlier and provide the help they need.”

Minister for Rough Sleeping Eddie Hughes said: “No one should have to sleep on our streets and our strategy will help make that a reality.

“We will pull every lever at our disposal so councils, working hand in hand with the voluntary, faith and community sectors, can intervene swiftly when someone is sleeping rough.

“When I worked at YMCA Birmingham, I saw first-hand how the right support can help people turn their life around. We’re making great progress and this strategy is hugely important step towards ending rough sleeping for good.”

Interim CEO at St Mungo’s, Rebecca Sycamore, said: “As a leading homelessness charity we know first-hand how important it is to focus on the root causes of rough sleeping in order to help break that cycle. We deliver a huge range of services to support people out of homelessness and into rebuilding their lives and so welcome this new strategy.

“Currently there is a significant gap in supported accommodation for people with complex needs and the announcement of an extra 2,400 homes in particular, is a step forward to helping people sustain a life away from the streets.”

Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, said: “Together with 28 other leading homelessness organisations, we recently wrote to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak asking that, if elected, their government publish a new strategy in its goal to end rough sleeping in England. Therefore, we are delighted that the Department for Levelling Up have published this blue-print today.

“We look forwards to reading the detail, but it appears that, from embedding long-term measures to help people leave homelessness for good, giving more resources to emergency interventions, and further focus on preventing people from becoming homelessness in the first place, the strategy is a step in the right direction in the goal of ending rough sleeping within this Parliament.

“However, we must also be realistic that the cost-of-living crisis is going to force more people into homelessness. Our members across the country are already seeing increased demand for their services and increased running costs. We will be working with the Government and our member organisations to come with solutions to this issue, building on the funding and ideas within this strategy.”