Upcoming cuts to funding for homelessness support could lead to preventable deaths, a charity has warned.

With central government funding set to expire in March 2025, Oxfordshire-based charity Connection Support has raised concerns about the impact on those who rely on its services.

Describing the situation as a "funding cliff-edge," Connection Support, along with other homelessness specialists Aspire Oxfordshire and Homeless Oxfordshire, have called on local MPs to address the potential reduction in funding.

The three charities have met with both Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East, and Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury, to raise their concerns about the imminent reduction in funding ahead of the Autumn Budget.

Ms Dodds committed to write to the Treasury to outline her concerns about homelessness funding and the need to review homelessness-related spending.

Chris Keating, CEO of Connection Support, said: "Should the central government funding not continue, higher costs are likely to be accrued elsewhere.

"We can expect to see a dramatic rise in the number of people sleeping rough, an increased need for temporary accommodation, greater demands on emergency services, longer stays in hospital for homeless individuals, and an increased need for drug and alcohol support services."

The charities have also predicted an increase in preventable deaths among homeless individuals due to the expected cuts in services.

One funding stream that will be affected is the Rough Sleeper Initiative, which accounts for approximately half of funding for homelessness services in Oxford City.

The charity has confirmed the government grants they receive are insufficient to run their services, forcing them to use fundraised income and reserves to supplement their contracts.

This money would otherwise be used to deliver alternative, non-commissioned services to support other community groups.

Mr Keating believes one of the biggest contributors to the homelessness crisis is the continual decline and de-prioritisation of homelessness prevention services.

He said many local authorities have had to scale back their upstream homelessness prevention services and contracts in order to focus solely on their statutory responsibilities amid financial pressures.

He explained how, through their prevention-focused services alone, Connection Support worked with Aspire Oxfordshire to support 935 households in the last financial year.

Of these, 660 households were supported without engaging with Oxfordshire local authorities, and although successful in preventing 95 per cent of these households from becoming homeless, the charity said it is not sustainable to continue to provide this level of support without adequate funding.

Alongside Homeless Link, the three charities are calling for a one-year rollover of existing homelessness funding into 2025/26, and a systematic review of all homelessness-related spending across government for 2026/27 onwards.