Rough sleeping in Manchester

Earlier this month, Favas.net went exploring in Manchester. Indeed, the city has transformed into a vibrant place over the past few decades. Yet, poverty and homelessness are visible in numerous places within the Greater Manchester region, as we observed in Oldham. According to ministerial figures (2024), over 35 percent of Oldham’s territory falls within the top 10 percent most deprived in the country. About twelve kilometre away, in central Manchester, the homelessness problem is evident. As early as January 2017, the then mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, promised to end rough sleeping. But that clearly hasn’t happened, as we were able to determine in Cobourg Street, among other places. Neil Cornthwaite of the homelessness charity Barnabus is clear in the local press. He states that Andy Burnham would admit he overreached himself. The problem is persistent. “The increase since Covid had been driven by a range of external factors such as the cost of living crisis, lack of housing, the moratorium on the ban on no-fault evictions, rising mental health issues, removal of the right to remain and the war in Ukraine.”

Source: Favas.net
Image: Favas.net

Cobourg Street, August 7, 2026