The Labour and Conservative mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands respectively have called on the government to guarantee that everyone who is homeless gets temporary accommodation over the next 12 months, regardless of their immigration status. In an interview with the homeless charity Crisis, Andy Burnham and Andy Street said the UK needed a reset of homelessness policy and emergency homelessness legislation should provide safe accommodation throughout the outbreak. It comes as winter approaches and fears of a second wave of coronavirus have been raised. Figures show some 20,000 households in England have been made homeless during the pandemic despite a nationwide eviction ban, which is due to expire on 20 September. Street said the pandemic had generated “citizen will” to make a change, adding “we did something we can be proud of in adversity” and called for the country “not to slip back”, while Burnham said it should be a “reset moment.” The pair support Crisis’s call for emergency homelessness legislation, guaranteeing all those experiencing homelessness with temporary accommodation over the next 12 months, regardless of their immigration status and other legal barriers. The government’s Everyone In scheme – which spent £3.2m on getting people off the streets and into accommodation – was used as an example of what could be done when homelessness was made a priority. The housing, communities and local government secretary, Robert Jenrick, boasted they had successfully taken 90% of rough sleepers off the streets to protect them from the virus. But Guardian research found reports of people sleeping rough rose sharply during lockdown. Many were forced on to the streets when they lost jobs as the economy closed down, with those who did not have access to public funds – such as some foreign nationals – particularly affected. Burnham said the “no recourse to public funds” (NRPF) policy that pre-coronavirus prevented many people who are homeless from accessing support, was “incompatible” with the goal of ending rough sleeping for good. Street said the British public had been able to “reflect on what’s happened over Covid and think: some things just aren’t right. And pervasive rough sleeping just is not right.” In the West Midlands, about 800 people had been moved into safe accommodation during the pandemic, Street added. Burnham said in Greater Manchester close to 2,000 people had been supported. Jon Sparkes, the chief executive of Crisis, said: “We are delighted to have their backing for our Home For All campaign and the emergency homelessness legislation we’ve proposed to government.”