The Labour government has announced plans to scrap the laws associated with criminalising homelessness from spring 2026. This comes in the form of repealing the Vagrancy Act, which has made rough sleeping and begging illegal in England and Wales for 200 years.
Rough sleeping has increased 164% from when monitoring began in 2010. While repealing the act won’t end rough sleeping, decriminalisation is an important step to making sure the estimated 4,667 rough sleepers across England can access much needed support.
