Key Programmes

A Bed Every Night (ABEN) provides the same bed every night for anyone experiencing rough sleeping in Greater Manchester. It provides more than just a bed, supporting people in their journey away from the streets and into more sustainable permanent accommodation. As of April 2025, ABEN has expanded to provide 601 bed spaces across Greater Manchester.

Staff work closely with residents to understand their needs and connect them with the right support. ABEN also helps people rebuild confidence and reconnect with their communities through meaningful activities such as classes, gardening, and creative workshops.

The model operates differently across Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs, allowing councils to tailor services to local needs. Access to ABEN is through councils and their housing options and rough sleeping outreach teams. Please make direct contact with your relevant council if you are at risk of homelessness. You can find that information under the ‘Finding Support’ section or our GMCA Homelessness web pages.

Housing First is an internationally evidenced intervention, which has proven successful in supporting people with multiple and complex needs to access and maintain housing. The main premise is that an individual should not need to prove they are ready for housing and is instead given a permanent offer of their own home, along with an intensive long-term support package to enable them to maintain it.  

GM Housing First programme has been operating since 2019. As of January 2025, 426 people have been accommodated on the programme achieving a tenancy sustainment rate of 78% after 18 months. 

A successful retender process for the Housing First programme has taken place with the service subject to continued funding contracted through to March 2029. 

The GM Housing First programme shows that secure, quality housing alongside personalised support is essential for people to thrive. People need to be able to access housing of a good standard and where needed be supported to maintain that. Our commitment to deliver a Housing First city region is based on these principles. A dedicated multi-agency Housing First unit is building capacity to address housing challenges through supply, standards, and support. 

The Young Persons Homelessness Prevention Pathfinder is a programme delivered across Greater Manchester to support young people at risk of homelessness. The service is commissioned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and delivered by the Greater Manchester Better Outcomes Partnership, with operational delivery partners including Calico, De Paul, Early Break and The Brick. Each young person who receives support from the service is assigned a coach who helps them prevent their homelessness, as well as improve other areas of their lives in relation to support networks, financial stability and meaningful activities. The GMCA Research Team has undertaken an evaluation of this service, to understand how effective it has been in preventing homelessness among young people in the city-region, as well as making clear any lessons learnt from this programme.

Young Persons Homelessness Prevention Pathfinder Evaluation (PDF, 1.39MB)

Find out more: YPHPP Website (external website)

Greater Manchester Local Authorities are taking part in the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census for the third time in 2025. Part of a collective piece of research organised nationally through a collation of charities; Solace Women’s Aid, Single Homelessness Partnership, Crisis and Change Grow Live.  

The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census aims to highlight the problem with the stringent definition of rough sleeping – to be seen physically ‘bedded down’ – as set out by National Government. This definition fails to encompass a range of experiences, particularly for women and how the unique threats and risks of gender-based violence and other vulnerabilities forces them to ensure they are much less visible when rough sleeping. Leading to, firstly, an underreporting of female rough sleepers within official statistics. Secondly, a barrier for women accessing services and support due to lack of ‘verification’, required by most local authorities.  

As a result of this work in Greater Manchester, actions have included: 

• A commitment to repeated involvement in the annual Women’s Rough Sleeping Census to build up a collection of data that can be monitored over time 

• Local Authority Homelessness and Outreach Teams working with a broader definition of rough sleeping that accounts for women’s experiences, ensuring that more women can access services and support 

• Improved partnership working across Local Authorities and VCFSE sector in supporting women 

• Creation and commitment to more women-specific accommodation which is appropriate, gender and trauma informed   

• Mapping services that exist specifically to support women and their unique needs across Greater Manchester