Thames Reach welcomes new government

We at Thames Reach extend our congratulations to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the new government.  

The Labour Party’s manifesto commitment to developing a new cross-governmental strategy to address homelessness is a welcome and promising step. With a focused and unified approach, we believe ending rough sleeping is an achievable goal, and as a leading charity working to end rough sleeping in London, we are eager to collaborate on this critical mission. 

Our priorities include:

– Prevention: Ensuring wide availability of tenancy support and establishing a well-resourced institutional duty to prevent street homelessness across housing providers, health services, criminal justice, and immigration sectors.

– Accommodation: Addressing the current reliance on hotels as long-term accommodation. We advocate for the creation of effective and accessible assessment centres, improved hostels, and increased access to good quality, affordable housing, including extending the ‘Clearing House’ initiative.

– Support: Providing comprehensive support through organisations like Thames Reach to help individuals transition from homelessness to stable housing, access preventive healthcare, and gain sustainable employment.

– Employment: Investing in employment support as a key element of recovery from homelessness, helping individuals achieve long-term stability and independence.

We look forward to working closely with the new government towards a world where no one need sleep rough.