NEARLY 200,000 people will face homelessness because of the Illegal Migration Act, an expert report has found.

The Kerslake Commission on Homelessness & Rough Sleeping said the Tories will break their manifesto pledge to end rough sleeping.

In a report published today, it says the widely condemned Act should be repealed, highlighting that non-UK nationals “are the group the homelessness sector is most concerned about, as with the passing of (the Act) there could be as many as 190,000 people with an asylum claim deemed inadmissible, leading those with no realistic prospect of return to an indefinite period of extreme hardship and poverty.”

The commission adds: “The Conservative government committed in its 2019 manifesto to end rough sleeping within the lifespan of the next parliament.

“During the pandemic, significant progress was made on rough sleeping and the Kerslake Commission was convened to learn the lessons from the emergency response and drive changes that would help end it by 2024.

“It is unfortunately the conclusion of the commission that this goal will not be met by the deadline.”

The independent group of 36 experts was formed in 2021 to look at the lessons from the emergency response which supported people sleeping rough during the pandemic.

Last September, the government restated its 2019 manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by the end of this parliament.

But estimates of the number of rough sleepers in England earlier this year rose for the first time since 2017.

The report blamed a severe shortage of social rented housing and supported housing for much of the current situation and urged that homelessness and rough sleeping be treated as a priority within all government departments “with all sectors working together in a trauma-informed way.”

Emma Haddad, commission member and chief executive of St Mungo’s homeless charity, said the report “sets out starkly that we are working against the tide.”

Shadow homelessness minister Mike Amesbury said: “A toxic mix of rising rents, the cost-of-living crisis and a failure to end no-fault evictions are hitting vulnerable people.”

The Department for Levelling-Up, Housing & Communities said the government is “focused on ending rough sleeping for good.”

The family of the late Lord Bob Kerslake, who chaired the commission before his death in July, said he would have been vociferous in publishing the latest report’s conclusions and recommendations.