By Martin Collett, Chief Executive, English Rural
The Government’s recently published National Plan to End Homelessness sets out a bold ambition: to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring. It is a welcome shift in tone and intent, with a clear emphasis on prevention, cross-sector collaboration, and long-term investment in housing. But as ever, the devil is in the detail. From a rural perspective, there are both encouraging signs and worrying omissions.
At English Rural, we know that homelessness does not happen only in cities. It affects people in villages, market towns and coastal communities, often hidden from view but no less real. So how does this plan stack up for rural England?
What’s promising?
First, the plan’s reform of funding arrangements is a step in the right direction. By consolidating multiple grants into a new Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant worth nearly £2 billion over three years and offering multi-year certainty, the Government is giving councils the tools to plan ahead. Crucially, the plan acknowledges that homelessness challenges vary by geography, including in rural and coastal areas. That recognition matters. For too long, rural councils have been forced to firefight with short-term pots of money, unable to invest in the early intervention that prevents homelessness in the first place.
Second, the plan’s emphasis on prevention and joined-up working is particularly relevant to rural communities. A new legal “duty to collaborate” will require public services, from health to justice, to work together to prevent homelessness. This is vital in rural areas where services are often fragmented or distant. The plan also invests in early detection tools, including AI-driven risk modelling, to identify households at risk before they reach crisis point. For isolated residents who may not know where to turn, this kind of proactive support could be transformative.
Third, the commitment to build 1.5 million new homes, including a generational boost in social and affordable housing, is welcome. So too is the pledge to abolish no-fault evictions through the Renters’ Rights Act. In rural areas, where housing options are limited and private rents are high, these measures could help prevent families from being pushed into homelessness by a single eviction or rent increase. However, delivery will be key. Rural areas must receive their fair share of these new homes, and they must be genuinely affordable to local people.
What’s missing?
Despite these positives, the plan falls short in several important ways when viewed through a rural lens.
Most notably, there is no dedicated rural homelessness strategy. The word “rural” appears only in passing, and there are no rural-specific targets, pilots or funding streams. This is a missed opportunity. Research by the University of Kent and others has shown that rural homelessness is distinct from urban homelessness: often hidden, dispersed, and driven by different factors. Without tailored interventions, rural communities risk being left behind.
Access to services is another gap. The plan assumes that support is available and accessible, but that is simply not the case in many rural areas. There are no local shelters, no outreach teams, and often no public transport to reach the nearest advice centre. The plan could have addressed this through funding for mobile outreach, digital advice services or transport support. Instead, rural residents remain forced to navigate a system that was never designed with them in mind.
Finally, the plan does not go far enough in addressing the chronic undercounting of rural homelessness. Because rural homelessness is often hidden—people sofa-surfing, living in cars or staying in overcrowded homes—it rarely appears in official statistics. This results in rural areas receiving less funding, fewer services and less political attention. The plan commits to improving data and evidence, but it does not adapt data collection methods to capture rural realities. Without better data, we cannot design better solutions.
A call to action
The National Plan to End Homelessness is a significant step forward. Its focus on prevention, housing and collaboration is the right one. But if we are serious about ending homelessness for everyone, everywhere, we must ensure that rural communities are not an afterthought.
That means embedding rural needs into implementation plans. It means directing a fair share of new housing and funding to rural areas. It also means supporting innovative rural outreach models and improving access to services. Above all, it requires fixing the data blind spots that have allowed rural homelessness to remain invisible for too long.
The Homelessness in the Countryside: A Hidden Crisis research report, conducted by the University of Kent and funded in part by English Rural, provides one of the most comprehensive examinations of rural homelessness in England. It highlights how homelessness in rural areas is often hidden, dispersed and significantly under‑reported, driven by a lack of affordable housing, limited services and strong stigma. The study makes clear that rural homelessness requires distinct policy attention and tailored responses if it is to be effectively understood and addressed
Following this our recent work on the Housing First for Rural England report—produced in partnership with Commonweal Housing and Porchlight—highlights the clear evidence of the scale and urgency of the challenge, that:
These figures paint a stark picture: rural homelessness is rising fast, yet rural communities receive far fewer resources to address it.
At English Rural, we stand ready to work with Government, councils and partners to make this happen, because homelessness doesn’t stop at the city limits, and neither should our solutions.
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