New regional analysis from the Better Society Index, Better Society Capital’s research platform exploring impact investment in public services, reveals that seven in ten Londoners (70%) would be willing to invest their pension or savings in solutions to social issues such as homelessness, provided it had minimal negative impact on returns. That is the highest of any region, and well above the UK average (52%).
The Index findings also point to mounting pressure in the capital. London councils recorded the steepest rise in homelessness spending of any UK region, up 44% between 2023/24 and 2024/25 and more than double the national average, while four in ten Londoners (41%) say homelessness has worsened in their area over the past year alone.
Much of that cost is driven by temporary accommodation. A record 76,020 London households were living in temporary accommodation in March 2026, according to the latest MHCLG figures, and London Councils estimates boroughs spend around £5m every day providing it. London alone accounts for more than half (56%) of all households in temporary accommodation in England.
Ending rough sleeping was Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first instruction on entering Downing Street. He has pledged to offer everyone sleeping rough in England a route off the streets by Christmas, backed by £442 million of funding. London Councils has welcomed the commitment but warned it must be part of a wider effort to tackle the capital’s homelessness emergency, now and in the long term.
Better Society Capital has invested into homelessness funds worth over £530m, including alongside £65m from three London Borough pension schemes. Partnerships involving the London boroughs of Bromley, Westminster, and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have seen a further £460m committed to directing pension savings to tackling one of the capital’s biggest social challenges.
Table 1. Willingness to invest pension or savings in products tackling social issues such as homelessness, provided it had minimal impact on returns, by region:
| Region | % willing to invest |
| Greater London | 70% |
| West Midlands | 57% |
| East of England | 52% |
| North of England | 50% |
| South East | 49% |
| South West | 48% |
| East Midlands | 39% |
| UK average | 52% |
Drew Ritchie, Investment Director at Better Society Capital, said:
“Impact investment provides the opportunity for savers seeking financial security in retirement to also know that their money is doing good. With the UK pensions sector valued at £3.2 trillion Better Society Capital is on a mission to help channel more of this into tackling social issues such as homelessness.
“More than any other region, Londoners are telling us they want their pension or savings to be invested in this way. This comes at a time when the number of households in temporary accommodation in London has reached 76,000 and the Prime Minister has made the goal of ending rough sleeping and homelessness his own personal mission.
“Meeting this ambition will take models that can get the job done at scale. In London, social investment partnerships providing quality, secure homes for rough sleepers and people moving on from homelessness backed by institutional capital have been steadily scaling for a decade. The opportunity to match steady, asset-backed returns for pension savers with secure homes for Londoners is a growing one. Achieving this requires public private partnerships, and we call on national government, investors and councils to fully harness this opportunity and turn the tide on homelessness in London.”