Early release prisoners at risk of street homelessness, charities warn

James, a 37-year-old released from prison in August, faces the expiry of his temporary probation accommodation in Somerset in four days and has nowhere to go. He has medical conditions including epilepsy and PTSD but has been denied temporary accommodation from Somerset council and rejected from probation housing. He has two electronic tags: a GPS tracker that needs daily charging and an alcohol-monitoring tag that must remain connected to a communication device. He questioned how he could comply while sleeping rough without reliable electricity or somewhere safe for the equipment.

Tania Bassett, from Napo, the trade union for probation staff, said most housing options were already full after the early release of prisoners in October, and there were major concerns about housing the next tranche of releases on 10 November. She described a "juxtaposition of releasing people into homelessness at the same time as Andy Burnham is saying we're going to solve rough sleeping". One member had been trying to find housing for 10 people released on 1 October, she said.

Andy Keen-Downs, chief executive of the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact), said: "Every single day we are seeing men and women coming back to prison because they did not make their probation appointment. And when we ask why, they say, 'Well, I was sleeping on a bit of cardboard'. That is still the daily reality."

Analysis by Pact showed the number of prisoners released into rough sleeping has increased by 130% in three years, from 6,040 in 2022-23 to 14,360 in 2025-26. Rough sleeping is now recorded in about one in seven prison releases, compared with around one in ten three years ago, and the proportion of releases recorded as “no fixed abode” (homelessness and rough sleeping combined) has risen from 11.3% to 15.9%.

Enver Solomon, CEO of the social justice charity Nacro, said he recently visited a prison aiming to ensure 84% of prisoners had a roof on release, “which effectively meant they were accepting that 16% would be homeless”. He said he thought the government realised this was a critical part of the jigsaw, but that it was taking time to work out what needed to be done.

A Somerset council spokesperson said: "While we cannot comment on individual cases, we have a statutory duty to work with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to assess their circumstances, provide appropriate advice and support, and explore all suitable accommodation options for them."

A government spokesperson said: "We're working with councils and charities to tackle prison leaver homelessness, backed by record investment in probation and our drive to ensure anyone sleeping rough is offered a route off the streets or wider support by Christmas. Prison leavers can also receive support from specialist services after leaving temporary accommodation." The spokesperson also cited training prisoners for work and partnerships with employers to help prison leavers into jobs.

Bassett said that if money is not ringfenced to help prisoners, it is a "real missed opportunity" to end the cycle. Keen-Downs called the lack of funding for post-prison support a "fatal flaw" in Burnham's plan.