Key facts
- Napo's Tania Bassett said most housing options were already full after October's early releases.
- Pact analysis put rough sleeping at about one in seven prison releases, against about one in 10 three years earlier.
- Releases recorded as having no fixed abode rose from 11.3% to 15.9%, per Pact analysis.
- Pact chief executive Andy Keen-Downs said a lack of money for post-prison support was a fatal flaw in plans to end rough sleeping.
- Nacro chief executive Enver Solomon said one prison aimed for 84% of prisoners to have a roof on release.
- The government said it is working with councils and charities, backed by record investment in probation.
Probation staff and charities warned that prisoners being released early in England and Wales risk sleeping on the street, with the next tranche of releases due on November 10, 2026. The warnings follow early releases in October intended to ease prison overcrowding.
Tania Bassett, from Napo, the trade union for probation staff, said most housing options were already full after the October releases and that members were concerned about housing the next group. She said one member had been trying to find housing for 10 people released on October 1, and that an assumption that probation could produce housing was misplaced.
Andy Keen-Downs, chief executive of the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact), said people return to prison daily because they missed probation appointments after sleeping rough. Pact analysis found the number of prisoners released into rough sleeping rose 130% in three years, from 6,040 in 2022-23 to 14,360 in 2025-26. Rough sleeping was recorded in about one in seven releases, against about one in 10 three years earlier, and releases recorded as no fixed abode rose from 11.3% to 15.9%.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the charity Nacro, said he recently visited a prison aiming for 84% of prisoners to have a roof on release, which he said meant accepting that 16% would be homeless. Keen-Downs said Andy Burnham's ambition to end rough sleeping in England and a £874 million funding boost were welcome, but called the lack of money for post-prison support a fatal flaw.
A Somerset council spokesperson said the authority has a statutory duty to work with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and is committed to ending rough sleeping in the county. A government spokesperson said it is working with councils and charities to tackle prison leaver homelessness, backed by record investment in probation, and that prison leavers can receive support from specialist services after leaving temporary accommodation.