The best UK homelessness charities

Behind every person handed the keys to a home of their own is someone who refused to walk past: the outreach workers out at dawn, the advisers on the end of a phone and the volunteers who open the doors at Christmas. It's steady, hopeful work, and it means more people have a safe place to call home.

Can't choose? Donate to them all at once

A red telephone box on a British street, decorated with hopeful artwork and posters offering help to people sleeping rough

A rainy London street seen through a wet window, with red double-decker buses in the traffic

Hands in knitted mittens holding a steaming mug of coffee

A quiet British housing estate with red-brick homes under a grey sky

Four charities, each brilliant at a different part of the job.

Rather than a ranked list, we've picked a range of charities, so together they cover more than any one could alone.

Shelter
- Housing Advice
- Eviction Help
- Fairer Housing Laws
Shelter was formed in 1966, the year the BBC screened Cathy Come Home, to speak up for people in bad housing. Its free helpline, webchat and 11 local hubs give advice to people worried about losing their home, and its solicitors go to court for people facing eviction. It campaigns for fairer housing laws too, including the newly won Renters' Rights Act. A free phone call that keeps a family in their home is about as direct as help gets.
Key stats
Households advised by its emergency helpline
12,672
Households helped at its local hubs
11,373
Households supported by its legal services
4,346
Visits to its online housing advice
6.2m
Source: Shelter Impact Report 2025/26 (England)
Why we've included them
Shelter works upstream, keeping people in the homes they have through its free advice helpline and solicitors who go to court for people facing eviction. Stopping homelessness before it starts is where the four begin.
Registered Charity: 263710
Visit Shelter
St Mungo's
- Street Outreach
- Hostels & Housing
- Recovery
St Mungo's began in 1969, when a small group of volunteers started helping people sleeping rough outside Charing Cross station. Four years later it opened its first hostel, in a former Marmite factory in Vauxhall. Today its outreach teams go out day and night, 365 days a year, and in London its No Second Night Out hubs aim to stop anyone new to the streets sleeping rough a second night. That round-the-clock presence is something we really admire.
Key stats
People supported who were homeless or at risk
26,015
People helped by its 14 outreach services
10,242
People given a safe place to stay every night
2,183
People moved into emergency shelter in severe weather
427
Source: St Mungo's Annual Impact Report 2024-25
Why we've included them
Out on the streets day and night, St Mungo's outreach teams help people sleeping rough into a safe place to stay. Its hostels and housing then support them to recover, with help for health, skills and work.
Registered Charity: 1149085
Visit St Mungo's
Centrepoint
- Young People
- Supported Housing
- Helpline
Centrepoint began in December 1969, when Reverend Ken Leech and a group of volunteers opened the basement of a Soho vicarage to young people with nowhere to sleep. Today it's the UK's leading youth homelessness charity, giving 16 to 25-year-olds safe housing, therapy and support into jobs and training. Its Independent Living homes link rent to income, capped at around a third. It wants youth homelessness ended by 2037, an ambition we're happy to get behind.
Key stats
Young people supported, with its partners
15,107
Young people advised by its helpline
5,411
Of young people leaving moved into independent housing
71%
Young people on its education and jobs service
869
Source: Centrepoint Impact Report 2025-26
Why we've included them
For 16 to 25-year-olds, Centrepoint offers safe housing, a dedicated helpline and support into jobs and training. It has put young people first since its first night in a Soho basement in 1969.
Registered Charity: 292411
Visit Centrepoint
Crisis
- Skylight Centres
- Housing & Jobs
- Crisis at Christmas
Crisis began in 1967 as Crisis at Christmas, and every Christmas its volunteers still offer warmth, hotel rooms and company to people with nowhere to go. All year round, its nine Skylight centres across Great Britain help people with housing, jobs, benefits and health. Now it aims to provide at least 1,000 genuinely affordable homes for its members over the next ten years. Crisis believes homelessness can end for good, a conviction that's hard not to share.
Key stats
People facing homelessness supported
9,189
Of those supported took first steps out of homelessness
40%
Crisis at Christmas volunteers
3,500+
Hospital patients supported with partner Pathway
4,919
Source: Crisis Annual Report 2024/25
Why we've included them
Crisis helps people find a way out of homelessness for good, with Skylight centres supporting them with housing, jobs, benefits and health. At Christmas, its volunteers offer warmth, hotel rooms and company to people with nowhere to go.
Registered Charity: 1082947
Visit Crisis