Liverpool Council has launched a new homelessness strategy. Will it work?

Dear readers — two years ago, Liverpool Council leader Liam Robinson declared a homelessness emergency in the city. Writing to the then-government’s housing secretary Michael Gove, he said the cost of providing temporary accommodation had spiralled from £250,000 per annum to more than £19 million in three years, calling the figures “harrowing”. 

As the third most deprived local authority in England, Liverpool had long struggled to meet housing demands for its most vulnerable. The most recent figures paint a bleak picture: as of July 2025, over 1,700 households in the city were living in temporary accommodation, including roughly 450 children.  

Now, the council has unveiled a new five-year plan to tackle homelessness. But what do the experts think of it? That’s today’s Answers in The Post. But first, your regularly scheduled Post briefing. 

Your Post briefing

Keir Starmer’s appointment of a former editor of The Sun newspaper to a senior comms role at the heart of government has not gone down well in Liverpool. David Dinsmore, who edited the newspaper from 2013-2015, has been hired as the new Permanent Secretary of Communications, a role created by Starmer. But several Labour politicians have expressed their disapproval. Mayor of the Liverpool city region Steve Rotheram said Dinsmore led a paper that "printed falsehoods that caused unimaginable pain" following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Riverside MP Kim Johnson called Dinsmore’s appointment “an insult to Hillsborough families and campaigners”, referencing the fact that Starmer had promised not to grant interviews with The Sun when he was running for the Labour leadership in 2020. Johnson, Wavertree MP Paula Barker and West Derby’s Ian Byrne co-signed a letter to the prime minister calling Starmer’s decision “a gross betrayal of the people of Liverpool”, coming as it does “at the same time as [...] you plan to introduce a watered-down version of the Hillsborough Law.” Meanwhile, several survivors and families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster have urged Starmer to reconsider his decision in a letter also highlighting that Dinsmore was convicted of breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act after The Sun printed a pixelated photo of the victim of the disgraced footballer Adam Johnson.

A three-minute silence has been held to remember the victims of the Southport stabbings. Hundreds of people gathered in the town one year on from the attack that killed Bebe King, six, Alice Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven. Although no large-scale gatherings or vigils were planned by Sefton council, local community centres and churches opened their doors to the public. Many also gathered in the gardens near the town hall, which have recently undergone a £10 million revamp in memory of the murdered girls. "Over the last 12 months the community has really pulled together," said Lauren Jones from Sefton Council for Voluntary Service, who is leading a project to support recovery work in the town. "You can see a lot of good community spirit.” Southport’s MP Patrick Hurley also paid tribute to that spirit, as well as the “solidarity and togetherness” shown in the aftermath of the attack. 

On the anniversary of the Southport attack, Merseyside Police were called to the Kings Gap hotel in Hoylake after social media claims circulated that the Home Office was repurposing the former Holiday Inn from housing asylum-seeking families to single males. The protest outside the hotel on Tuesday evening was said to have involved between 50-100 people, but according to the police was peaceful with no arrests made. Paula Basnett, leader of Wirral Council, told the Wirral Globe: "I fully understand the concerns and frustrations many residents feel about the potential change in use of the Kings Gap Hotel” and stressed that the council was prioritising the safety and wellbeing of residents. The social media post accusing the Home Office of the “concerning” and “unilateral” decision that preceded the gathering actually came from “Ward Councillor News for Hoylake, Meols & Central West Kirby”, the official Facebook account for the Conservative councillors in that area. The Wirral Tories’ original 28th July post was edited at 18:34 the following day to include, “We urge resistance to calls for protest as this will not achieve anything positive.” A further protest outside the hotel occurred last night.

In today’s Answers in The Post, Abi looks at the council’s new five-year plan to tackle homelessness, and speaks to experts about whether the solutions posed will help the city’s most vulnerable long-term.

How bad is our homelessness problem?

In 2023, Liverpool Council announced a homelessness emergency in the wake of  "unprecedented" demand for housing. The following year, the number of households in the city living in temporary accommodation reached 1,245, at a cost of more than £21 million to the council. 

Since then, things have only got worse. At the start of July 2025, over 1,700 households were living in temporary accommodation in Liverpool, including more than 450 children. As a short-term solution, most have been placed in hotels or B&Bs while more suitable housing options are found. As a result, the total cost for temporary accommodation is predicted to skyrocket by the end of this financial year to nearly £29 million — a rise of more than 11,000% since the pandemic. 

While the increase in homelessness is not exclusive to Liverpool (a recent study by Shelter UK found one in 160 people in England are now classed as homeless) the city has seen a dramatic shift compared to its counterparts across the North. Between October and December 2024, there were 377 households experiencing a risk of homelessness in Liverpool, according to homelessness prevention charity Crisis. This was a lower rate than Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and Kingston-Upon-Hull. By the end of the year, Liverpool had overtaken all those cities apart from Manchester. 

Why is homelessness on the rise?

To find out more about why homelessness is increasing in Liverpool, The Post spoke to Sharron McGuinness, the director of Liverpool services for Crisis UK. Founded in 1967, the charity offers employment, housing and well-being services to help tackle homelessness, and operates across Merseyside as well as London, Wales and Scotland. 

She points to several key reasons for the rise. The increase in monthly private rents in Liverpool is making it more difficult for people to maintain accommodation. Last year, the average private rental price reached £801, an increase of nearly 10% from 2023. This is despite the average household income per head sitting at just £16,069 a year— over £5,000 short of the national average. These financial constraints, partnered with the government’s decision to freeze housing benefits for the eighth year in a row, is leading to an increase in evictions city-wide.