"No one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station," Burnham said in a statement announcing the new plans. It comes a month after Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister, and builds on his promise on his first day in office to end rough sleeping.His government is now setting out the next steps to achieve that aim, with emergency accommodation and long-term housing support to be put in place across England this winter.

Rough sleepers can be seen in many of the UK's cities, often curling up in shop doorways © Henry NICHOLLS / AFP

Under the programme, areas facing the highest levels of homelessness and housing pressure will receive the largest share of a boosted £442 million ($666 million) in funding.And Burnham told the Big Issue magazine, which works to fight poverty, that he would donate 15 percent of his salary to homelessness causes.The publication says the PM is paid about £180,000 a year."I wouldn't want to ask anybody to do anything that I'm not prepared to do. I want to lead from the front," he told the magazine."This issue matters massively to me. I don't want to live in a country where walking past people sleeping rough just becomes commonplace."The number of rough sleepers in England reached a record 4,793 in 2025, according to government figures. Rough sleepers -- those sleeping outdoors -- are a minority of England's total homeless, estimated at 382,000 in 2025 by leading charity Shelter. This larger figure includes those who manage to stay off the streets but lack a permanent residence or security of tenure, and includes families and children.The figures show little sign of budging, with the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank warning earlier this year that the numbers could increase by 25 percent by 2030.Burnham cited efforts to move rough sleepers into temporary accommodation during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying in his statement that "we can do it again". He also vowed to end rough sleeping during his almost-decade long stint as mayor of the northern city of Manchester, but ultimately failed despite some initial success.Helping 'thousands'He pledged on Monday that the government would convene the first national summit dedicated to tackling rough sleeping later in the year.