Eastbourne Borough Council has been awarded more than £1.5 million over three years to help prevent and reduce rough sleeping in the town.
The funding will support a new rough sleeping plan being developed by the council alongside voluntary and faith organisations, partner agencies and people with lived experience of rough sleeping.
The council says its initial priorities include increasing the amount of supported accommodation available to people sleeping rough and improving joint working between agencies supporting people with multiple and complex needs.
Councillor Peter Diplock, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, said the three-year funding would provide greater stability for services.
“This multi-year funding gives us the stability to expand supported accommodation and strengthen the coordinated work already happening across Eastbourne,” he said.
He added that tackling rough sleeping requires long-term cooperation between health, social care, voluntary and faith organisations.
29 people recorded sleeping rough
The new funding comes as the latest official figures show that 29 people were recorded as sleeping rough in Eastbourne during the autumn 2025 snapshot.
That was an increase from 26 people in 2024, but below the 37 recorded in 2023.
The Government’s rough sleeping snapshot is carried out on a single night during the autumn and should not be interpreted as the total number of people who experience homelessness or sleep rough throughout an entire year.
Eastbourne’s 2025 figure equates to 27.8 people per 100,000 residents, compared with an England-wide rate of 8.2 per 100,000.
Nationally, 4,793 people were estimated to be sleeping rough across England during the autumn 2025 snapshot — the highest figure since the current system began in 2010.
How will the £1.5m be spent?
Eastbourne Borough Council has not yet announced a detailed breakdown of exactly how the full funding allocation will be spent.
However, it has identified two early priorities: providing more supported accommodation and strengthening cooperation between organisations supporting people with complex needs.
The council’s homelessness team is currently working with existing providers and neighbouring authorities across East Sussex to determine how the additional funding should be used.
The money forms part of the Government’s new Rough Sleeping Programme, which provides £442 million over three years across England.
The national programme is intended to help people sleeping rough access accommodation and support, while also providing longer-term settled accommodation and intensive support for people facing the greatest barriers to leaving the streets.
A continuing challenge for Eastbourne
The latest figures show that rough sleeping remains a significant challenge for Eastbourne.
Although the town’s figure remains below its recent peak, the number of people recorded sleeping rough increased between 2024 and 2025.
The council will now be expected to demonstrate how the additional funding translates into practical support, including whether more supported accommodation becomes available and whether fewer people are found sleeping rough in future annual snapshots.
The next official autumn snapshot is expected to provide another measure of progress.
The £1.5 million allocation was announced by Eastbourne Borough Council on 27 August 2026.
Sources
- Eastbourne Borough Council — “Councillor welcomes extra funding to tackle rough sleeping”, published 27 August 2026. Source for the £1.5m funding, council priorities and comments from Councillor Peter Diplock.
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) — Rough sleeping snapshot in England: autumn 2025, published February 2026. Source for the Eastbourne figure of 29 and national rough sleeping statistics.
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) — Rough Sleeping Programme, published 19 August 2026. Source for the £442m national programme and its objectives.
- Eastbourne Live — “Eastbourne rough sleeping: £1.5m award to expand support”, published 2 September 2026. Local reporting on the funding and the latest Eastbourne rough sleeping figures.