A new target has been set to end the scourge of homelessness in Newcastle by 2030, after a major spike in the number of people sleeping rough in the city.
Leaders on Tyneside signed off last week on a new strategy to combat homelessness over the next five years.
Newcastle City Council has promised to deliver “targeted interventions” tailored to the complex needs of people in crisis, increase the supply of available homes, and provide specific support for women and young people.
Council leader Karen Kilgour said she wanted to “turn the tide on homelessness for good” and make sure that instances when people do become homeless are rare, brief, and non-recurring.
Efforts to end homelessness in the past
The city had previously run the Street Zero initiative, which had aimed to end rough sleeping on Newcastle’s streets by 2022.
But the trend has been very much in the opposite direction over recent years. The number of people sleeping rough in Newcastle has increased from 14 seen bedded down in one night in November 2022 to 46 on an equivalent night in November 2025.
Prior to 2015, according to the council, the number of rough sleepers counted on any given night in Newcastle was rarely in double figures.
Living crisis
Civic Centre bosses say that deepening poverty and rising demand for housing have pushed more and more people towards the risk of becoming homeless, and that the cost of living crisis has been “disproportionately felt by those who are already struggling financially and who are already at a greater risk”.
The number of households on Newcastle’s council housing register has jumped by 52% in the last two years, standing at 8,471 in September 2025, coupled with an 84% increase in those with an “urgent need’ priority.
At the same time, there has been a 25% drop in the numbers of people leaving council housing to either buy their own home or move to another rented property – adding further to waiting times.
Rising rent prices in the private sector are also adding to insecurity, with the average rent for a two-bedroom home in Newcastle now almost £1,200 per month.
Vicky McDermott, the council’s director of housing, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Homelessness is a really complex issue and people are homeless for a variety of reasons, and particularly sleeping rough for a variety of reasons. It is no mean feat and there are a variety of views about the best way in which to end homelessness.”
She said that the council would think about every individual’s particular and complex circumstances, particularly around mental health and addiction issues, to give them the support they need and had to work “more cohesively” with neighbouring areas to resolve the issue.
Under half of the rough sleepers counted in the city in March 2025 were from Newcastle, with 51% having a connection to another area.
New strategy measures
- Supporting a shift from crisis food banks to sustainable models like food pantries and social supermarkets;
- Making ‘best use’ of council housing to address under-occupation of larger homes;
- Delivering “targeted interventions for individuals”, with a focus on preventing rough sleeping and facilitating access to move on accommodation;
- Increasing the supply of accommodation available for rough sleepers and support for people to move on into the private rented sector.
It also sets out that the causes and impact of women’s homelessness can be “traumatic and severe” – and often looks very different from men’s.
The report states: “We lack data on most aspects of women’s homelessness here in the North East, and we don’t know the actual number of women experiencing homelessness in the region because it is often hidden. There are many amazing organisations in the region providing services and support for women experiencing homelessness, but there is no regional strategy, policies or funding frameworks focused on preventing and ending women’s homelessness in the region.”
In 2024, the city council scaled back major cuts in support for the city’s homeless community after warnings from charities that slashing spending on beds and other support services would leave more people to die on the street.
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