Residents help shape Lewisham's new homelessness strategy
Lewisham Council’s Mayor and Cabinet has approved a new Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy for 2026-31. The strategy sets out how we will work with residents and partners to prevent homelessness, improve temporary accommodation and help more people find and sustain a settled home.
Residents have played an important role in developing the strategy. Between March and September 2026, we spoke to people with experience of homelessness and temporary accommodation, frontline staff, voluntary and community organisations, housing associations, health partners and other public services. This included roundtables, one-to-one conversations and a borough-wide public consultation.
The response was overwhelmingly positive. 96.78% of people responding to the formal consultation said they supported or strongly supported the proposed approach and actions.
Just as importantly, the feedback has resulted in changes to the final strategy.
You said, we did
Residents and partners said we should do more to make the best use of existing social housing, including addressing empty homes and the loss of social housing through disposals by housing associations.
In response, we have added a new commitment to work with housing associations to understand their plans for disposing of properties and explore opportunities to make suitable homes available to meet local housing and homelessness needs.
People also asked for greater clarity about how we will set targets and compare Lewisham’s performance with similar areas. We have expanded this section of the strategy to explain more clearly how this will work.
Another strong theme was the connection between homelessness and health. Residents and partners called for closer working between housing and health services. We have therefore added an action to strengthen collaboration between Housing, Public Health and health partners, helping us better understand and tackle the health inequalities experienced by people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Earlier engagement also highlighted concerns about long waits for homelessness assessments, the need for more information and advice throughout the homelessness process, conditions and length of stays in temporary accommodation, and the importance of practical support when people move into settled homes.
These findings helped shape the strategy’s overall priorities and actions.
Our priorities for the next five years
The strategy is organised around five priorities:
- tackling rough sleeping and preventing homelessness
- increasing standards and enforcement in the private rented sector
- improving the quality of temporary accommodation
- increasing the supply of long-term accommodation
- working in partnership to help residents live independent, healthy and sustainable lives
The strategy also includes commitments to expand temporary accommodation within Lewisham and introduce a Charter of Rights, guaranteeing five basics for people in temporary accommodation: kitchen access, laundry, Wi-Fi, storage, and clear information about housing options and expected move-on times.
The new approach comes as the number of Lewisham households in temporary accommodation has been falling, from 2,547 in August 2025 to 2,168 in August 2026. However, homelessness remains a significant challenge, with 345 people seen rough sleeping in the borough during 2025/26.
The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2026-31 was approved by Lewisham’s Mayor and Cabinet on Wednesday 4 November.