1 in 60 young people in the UK faced homelessness in 2024–25.
This year’s Youth Homelessness Databank report presents analysis of data collected during the 2024-25 financial year and looks into the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) in its seventh year. It provides youth homelessness data across the different stages of the statutory homelessness system in England, from first contact with councils to assessments and potential duties owed, while incorporating data from devolved nations to build a UK-wide picture.
This year’s national findings
The report updates key findings from the previous year, including Centrepoint’s national estimate of the scale of youth homelessness. This year’s research shows that 123,934 young people across the UK faced homelessness between April 2024 and March 2025, a 6% increase from last year.
The latest Databank findings once again highlight how essential robust, transparent, and comprehensive data is for understanding and addressing the issue of youth homelessness.
Need for comprehensive data on youth homelessness
Despite the increasing scale of youth homelessness, there remains an evidence gap with no fully comprehensive measure of the issue across the United Kingdom outside of Centrepoint’s Youth Homelessness Databank.
Without consistent national and regional data on how many young people seek help for homelessness and what happens to them after approaching their local authorities, it is difficult for services and policymakers to design effective interventions or allocate the resources needed to support young people at risk of homelessness.
Databank’s role in addressing the evidence gap
The Databank continues to bridge this gap. By gathering local authority data across England and combining with statistics from the devolved administrations, it provides the most detailed and publicly accessible account of young people’s journeys through the homelessness system in the UK.
It is important to note that these figures capture only those young people who approached councils or devolved administrations for help. Many more experience hidden homelessness, most notably through sofa surfing, which remains challenging to quantify.
The Youth Homelessness Databank highlights ongoing limitations in data published by national bodies. In England, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) does not release data on initial stages of the homelessness process, such as presentations and assessments. This information is vital for assessing unmet need for housing services and issues with accessing homelessness support.
Lack of adequate support for young people
This lack of transparency hides the realities of many young people who slip through the cracks when accessing support. This year’s FOI-based findings indicate that more than one third of young people who approached English local authorities were not assessed at all, meaning 37,655 young people did not receive the first statutory step required under the HRA to determine their eligibility or level of need for housing support.
Recommendations to address youth homelessness
A cross-cutting issue like youth homelessness requires a preventative and comprehensive response. To address the evidence gap, Centrepoint is calling for public data to be published on the earlier stages of the HRA and for a formal review of youth assessment rates in England.
We also recommend an adequate supply of social housing that is suitable for young people.
Lastly, in order to strengthen the early-intervention approach of the HRA, the expertise of the youth homelessness sector and the perspectives of young people with lived experience must be incorporated into the government’s forthcoming Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit.