Crisis charity to become landlord amid UK housing emergency

Published: 10 November 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

In a historic move, homelessness charity Crisis has announced plans to become a landlord for the first time in its six-decade history, citing the housing crisis in the United Kingdom as having reached a “catastrophic scenario.” This landmark development marks a significant departure from the charity’s traditional role as a service provider and campaigner, as it prepares to directly acquire and manage housing to meet the urgent needs of the country’s most vulnerable populations.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, explained that the charity was preparing to launch a fundraising appeal to purchase its own housing stock after repeatedly encountering barriers in accessing social housing for its clients. “We don’t want to do this, but if nobody else is going to provide housing, we’ll do it ourselves,” he said. Downie acknowledged that such a step would have been unimaginable for previous leaders of the charity, who could rely on councils and housing associations to provide homes for low-income citizens. “It’s just no longer available. We wouldn’t be doing this unless the wheels had come off the homelessness and housing system,” he added.

A recent study conducted by Heriot-Watt University, commissioned by Crisis, underlines the severity of the situation. The research revealed that nearly 300,000 families and individuals across England were experiencing extreme forms of homelessness in 2024. This includes sleeping on the streets, in tents or squats, or residing in unsuitable temporary accommodation such as hostels and B&Bs. The figures represent a 21% increase since 2022 and a staggering 45% rise compared with 2012, highlighting a crisis that continues to escalate year on year.

The report also detailed a worrying increase in homelessness among people leaving hospitals, prisons, and other institutions, up 22% in the last year alone. Those evicted from UK asylum accommodation experienced a 37% rise in homelessness. These statistics paint a stark picture of a system under pressure, compounded by the fact that many high-needs individuals cannot access social or affordable housing in time to prevent destitution.

Downie stressed the human cost behind these numbers. “When I started working in homelessness, the average age of death for a homeless male was 47. It’s now gone down to 44. We’ve started to see the first cases of children on our streets. That doesn’t seem to shock people enough,” he said. The charity’s decision to provide housing directly stems from a pragmatic recognition that without secure homes, the solutions to homelessness will remain out of reach.

Crisis has already taken steps in this direction by establishing its own lettings agency, designed to help clients access private rented housing. Now, the charity is set to move further, providing its own social housing to high-needs individuals in London and Newcastle, supported by bespoke Housing First tenancy teams. The initial phase aims to provide at least a thousand homes, with plans to expand the programme over time. Downie emphasized that housing is the cornerstone of addressing homelessness: “We will proudly go about acquiring and providing our own homes, mainstream housing, because that’s the answer. We won’t get anywhere without the housing.”

The move echoes the origins of housing associations in the UK, which were first established by Victorian philanthropists to combat homelessness and poverty. Downie highlighted the historical significance of the charity’s headquarters, located near the first Peabody estate in London, underscoring the stark contrast between past and present circumstances: “We’re about 200 yards away here from the birth of social housing in this country and yet around the corner we’re having to start again.”

Crisis has also called on the government to expedite the publication of its promised homelessness strategy, initially outlined in Labour’s manifesto, and to increase housing benefits to reflect the true cost of private rents. While the government has committed £39 billion toward its social and affordable homes programme, aiming to build 180,000 new social homes over the next decade, recent policy changes have caused concern. The new housing secretary, Steve Reed, faced backlash for reducing affordable housing targets in London from 35% to 20% in an effort to accelerate project completion, a move Crisis argues undermines the scale needed to tackle the crisis effectively.

Downie criticized the current state of the housing system, particularly the exploitation that arises from the high cost of temporary accommodation. “It’s really worrying to see more and more people have concluded that you can make money out of making people and keeping people homeless,” he said. “The cost of temporary accommodation is astronomical, but the fact that a lot of that money is going into the hands of people effectively exploiting the situation is really a disgrace.”

The charity’s decision to act directly by acquiring homes reflects both frustration and a determination to lead by example. Downie concluded with a stark warning and a call for political action: “We need a political leader to grasp all of this. The truth is, for many years to come, we’ll just keep talking about a bigger-sized problem unless there’s some fundamental rethinking. Housing is the solution, and we must act decisively.”

As Crisis steps into the role of landlord, it sets a precedent for charitable organisations to move beyond advocacy into practical solutions, bridging the gap left by under-resourced councils and housing associations. The coming months will reveal whether this ambitious strategy can materially reduce homelessness and inspire systemic change across the UK.