How the 2024 General Election Manifestos will Impact Youth Homelessness

However, some policies, or lack of policies, could make it worse for young people facing homelessness. Centrepoint is calling on the future Government to consider homeless young people’s experiences and ensure that they are included in all relevant policy decisions.  

135,800 16-24 year olds were homeless or at risk of homelessness in the UK in 2022/23 - a 5% increase on the previous year and a 12% rise since the last general election. This suggests that youth homelessness is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, one which costs the UK Government around £8.5 billion per year in lost revenue and additional spending. The 2024 party manifestos were an opportunity to challenge these statistics and improve the lives of young people. However, it is clear that, for many, the increasing rate and cost of youth homelessness is not a large priority. 

2024 Manifestos Impact 

Some manifestos directly address homelessness and introduce policies that would alleviate risk across the UK. Mirroring their 2019 manifesto commitment, the Conservative party has sought to address rough sleeping by using the Local Authority Housing Fund and reviewing the quality of temporary accommodation. By contrast, Labour’s manifesto moves beyond the Conservatives sole focus on rough sleeping by committing to a cross-government strategy to ending homelessness, while the Liberal Democrats plan to ‘end all forms of homelessness’ by the next parliament. These commitments would likely benefit young people as they are more likely to be at risk of hidden homelessness such as sofa surfing. The Green and Reform Party have disappointingly not addressed homelessness in their manifestos.

On housing, Labour has pledged to deliver the ‘biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation’ by strengthening planning obligations to ensure new developments provide more affordable homes. Similarly, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have pledged to develop 150,000 homes – far exceeding the target of 90,000 in the Lib Dem’s 2019 manifesto. These policies may improve opportunities for young people experiencing homelessness to move on from temporary or supported accommodation, providing them with the security to live and sustain independent living. By contrast, the Conservative party does not refer to social housing development in their manifesto – instead, introducing a pledge on limiting access to social tenancies for those with no UK or local connections, while the Reform party also wants to limit social housing eligibility for non-UK nationals.

The Conservative manifesto commits to removing benefits from people who refuse to take up suitable jobs after 12 months, while Reform intends to do the same after only 4 months. These policies may be more of an obstacle than an incentive for young people, many of whom are unable to access employment because of unfair benefit rules or issues with their physical and mental health. By contrast, the Liberal Democrats aim to end the young parent penalty for under-25s by restoring the full rate of Universal Credit for all parents regardless of age and reducing the 5-week wait for Universal Credit – a policy that often leaves young people with no income when they first start claiming benefits. Furthermore, the Green’s want to abolish the two-child benefit cap - lifting 250,000 children out of poverty.

On employment, the Conservatives have committed to increasing apprenticeship rates per year but have included little else that would support young people to access improved employment opportunities or incomes. Labour want to replace the Conservatives Apprenticeship Levy with a flexible Growth and Skills Levy to support young people into sustainable employment post-16. Similarly, the Liberal Democrats will encourage more flexible skills and training by introducing a new skills levy and scrapping the lower apprentice rate – ensuring that young apprentices have the same salary as people in employment.  

Overall, the 2024 manifestos demonstrate that there is a lack of focus on young people facing homelessness compared to over 25s. While commitments to end homelessness and increase social housing are welcome, parties should also implement policies that focus on alleviating the particular challenges experienced by homeless young people. Young people experiencing homelessness need personalised support to gain independent living skills, overcome trauma and lead meaningful lives. Therefore, parties need to commit to policies that support them to break the cycle and move on from homelessness in a positive way.