During the spring of 2020, the UK Government implemented a ground-breaking policy initiative (the ‘Everyone In’ initiative) to provide temporary accommodation for everyone experiencing rough sleeping and a range of other forms of homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The primary aim of this initiative was to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on people facing homelessness and to prevent deaths. By September 2020, over 29,000 vulnerable people had been supported. In London, the initiative was overseen by the Greater London Authority and the 33 London borough councils, which brought together multiple services and agencies to provide temporary accommodation for over 5,000 people.