Research

In June 2006 the DCLG published a research summary of an evaluation of homelessness prevention in 10 local authorities. It has also published a Good Practice Guide on prevention, with a summary published as a Policy Briefing.

In 2004 the University of Sheffield published a report Building Homelessness Prevention Practice: combining research evidence and professional knowledge

In 2005 the ODPM Select Committee published a report on Homelessness, which has a section (3) on prevention.

Also in 2005, the Association of London Government published a report Prevention Works on homelessness prevention initiatives in seven london boroughs. It found that that rent deposit schemes and mediation for 16- to 17-year olds were the most effective prevention methods

Prevention, Cure and Gatekeeping

Many homelessness prevention schemes involve tackling the issues that cause people to lose their homes. But other approaches concentrate on helping people find alternative housing solutions. While prevention is usually better than cure, finding someone a new home before they become homeless is the next best thing.

Agencies working with homeless people have expressed concern that homelessness prevention schemes can be a form of gatekeeping, by which they mean that people are prevented from accessing services. The ODPM Select Committee commented "distinguishing ‘prevention’ measures from gatekeeping measures has proved problematic throughout our inquiry." The Committee quoted evidence from Shelter: "preventative services must be focused on improving outcomes for potentially homeless applicants rather than artificially reducing the number of homeless acceptances or ‘demand managing’ access to social housing." In 2006 Housing Minister Yvette Cooper wrote to local authorities, urging them to adopt more effective prevention approaches which do not discourage homeless people from applying for housing assistance.

In October 2006 the Local Government Ombudsman found "maladministration causing injustice" following a complaint about Thurrock Council. He said that "the important focus on prevention of homelessness should not lead councils to adopt a ‘gatekeeping approach’ – meaning they refuse to take homelessness applications from people who may be eligible for help."

The Causes of Homelessness

There are many causes of homelessness. Table 5 of the government's statistics on homelessness acceptances by local authorities set out the reasons why homeless households lost their last accommodation, which is the headline reason for homelessness, if not the underlying cause.

Approximately two out of five cases of statutory homelessness occur when households are asked to leave by parents, other relatives or friends. Most prevention schemes, such as mediation schemes try to address this issue. A fifth of cases arise from the breakdown of relationships with partners, another fifth from the loss of mortgaged or rented homes while the remaining fifth happen for "other" reasons.

This breakdown may not reflect the causes of homelessness for single homeless people and couples without children, particularly those who do not have a priority need for rehousing.

The University of Sheffield Report identified six "pathways into homelessness":

• The death of a relative or ‘carer’
• Ill-health leading to mobility and functioning difficulties
• Rent arrears due to Housing Benefit claims or payment problems
• Mental health and alcohol problems that contribute to relationship breakdown
• Harassment leading to forced displacement
• Disruptive behaviour leading to eviction

Repeat Homelessness

Some vulnerable individuals, couples and families are likely to experience repeat episodes of homelessness unless their housing, health and support needs are not properly met when they move away from homelessness the first time. Preventing Repeat Homelessness

Advice

Good quality housing advice plays a key role in preventing homelessness, both in keeping people in their homes and helping them to find alternatives. Advice also has an important role to play in making sure that homeless people get the help they need from local authorities.

One of the important obligations that local authorities have towards everyone who is threatened with homelessness is to give them advice and assistance to prevent them becoming homeless.

Homeless Link member Shelter has a network of advice centres across the country, provides online housing advice and information and runs the Shelterline housing advice helpline.

Where homeowners and the tenants of social landlords are concerned, advice, including court duty schemes, can and does prevent homelessness. But the majority of homelessness cases where a household owns or rents their own home (approximately 12% of the total) involve the loss of an assured shorthold tenancy, where the landlord is guaranteed possession and advice can at best only delay homelessness. This is where mediation can help.

The DCLG's Homelessness Innovation Fund has supported a project called Reducing Homelessness through Accessible Financial Advice, which provides a Citizens Advice Bureau debt advisor to give financial advice to people who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.

Unfortunately, people continue to be made homeless because of delays and errors in the processing of Housing Benefit claims. Local Housing Authorities will also be directly or indirectly responsible for this and often the best form of help they can give is to expedite the payment of benefit. Waltham Forest Council's Housing Advice Unit has an in-house Housing Benefit assessment officer who can process applications where there is a risk of homelessness and liaise directly with landlords.

Rent deposit schemes and other schemes can help homeless people and those threatened with homelessness access private sector accommodation. For more information, see our briefing on the private rented sector.

Mediation

Some schemes attempt to mediate between potentially homeless people and their parents or landlords to resolve issues that would otherwise result in the loss of accommodation.

The DCLG's Policy Briefing on prevention says that: "For family mediation, good practice includes ensuring that where possible mediation is offered as an option at an early stage, where homelessness is threatened rather than once it has occurred." It also advises that: "local authorities also need to ensure that staff are properly trained to carry out mediation work, which often requires specialist skills and sensitivity in making judgements about the appropriateness of different options."

Homeless Link members Herts Young Homeless Group run a mediation scheme called Crashpad for homeless or potentially homeless young people. This provides a room in a host's family home for up to three weeks, based on the Nightstop model, to give mediators a chance to resolve problems with a young person's family and possibly enable her or him to return home.

The DCLG's Homelessness Innovation Fund is currently funding a similar scheme, called Crash Pad, in Dudley in the West Midlands. This is a partnership between Dudley Council, Heantun Housing Association and the local Youth Offending Team. The scheme places a strong emphasis on mediation between young people, who may be single parents, and their families, as well as giving them a "reality check" about what it might be like to live independently. See Education and Young People below.

Tenancy Sustainment: Support and Reducing Evictions

Issues like anti-social behaviour and rent arrears can place social landords in a dilemma. While they clearly need to address these issues, they also need to ensure that they do not contribute to the problem of homelessness by evicting people unnecessarily. Tenancy sustainment homelessness prevention schemes are a positive way of addressing some of these issues and helping people stay in their existing housing.

The DCLG's Homelessness Innovation Fund has made awards to a number or schemes that work with people to help them sustain their tenancies.

The Housing Corporation has published a Regulatory Circular stating that "associations should act to support and sustain, rather than terminate, a tenancy: early intervention is essential."

The DCLG's policy briefing on Housing associations and homelessness includes a recommendation that housing associations review their links with local authorities and voluntary agencies so that association staff can refer tenants experiencing problems in sustaining their tenancy for mediation.

Newcastle City Council and its Arms Length Management Organisation, Your Homes Newcastle, have developed a Protocol to prevent homelessness and repeat homelessness through eviction or other loss of home after consultation with stakeholders in the area. This has an evictions review flowchart.

The DCLG's Policy Briefing on prevention says that:

"Good practice in the provision of tenancy sustainment services includes ensuring services are well-publicised and accessible to those who might need them, ensuring intervention is timely and the provision of support is flexible according to the needs of clients. Tenancy sustainment services also need to liaise effectively with other key agencies such as landlords or Housing Benefit departments, and services involved in providing support to tenants such as health services."

Preventing Repeat Homelessness

Work to prevent repeat homelessness begins as soon as a homeless person finds somewhere to live. Homeless Link members across the country providing suitable supported housing for formerly homeless people while looking at their resettlement options.

Follow-up support can be crucial to help many formerly homeless people maintain their own accommodation. This might be individual, floating, support or activities and employment support, such as that provided by Homeless Link member Thamesreach Bondway

Homeless Link has resources on resettlement that can help prevent repeat episodes, including a book, a handbook and a training course.

Targeting at risk Groups

Groups that are at risk of homelessness include prisoners, people leaving care, hospital and the armed forces and young people, especially those leaving care. Most people in these groups, will be in vulnerable and therefore in priority need under homelessness legislation and targeting prevention initiatives at them can be very effective.

Developing appropriate discharge protocols for homeless people leaving hospital is one of the aims of Homeless Link's Health Inclusion Project.

With prisoners, housing advice, including benefits advice, is essential to try to prevent the loss of existing accommodation - or to bring tenancies to an end before rent arrears become a barrier to rehousing - and to find accommodation for those leaving prison without a home. In 2002 the Social Exclusion Unit published a report on Reducing re-offending by ex-prisoners, which emphasised the importance of preventing ex-offender homelessness from this perspective.

Nottingham Prison's resettlement service won a Guardian Public Service Award.

As well as providing accommodation and resettlement services for ex-offenders, NACRO runs a range of homelessness prevention schemes, including mediation and advice.

Focus Futures, in connection with the Centre for Social Justice at Coventry University, has published a "Good Practice Ideas Guide" on Prisoner Resettlement and Housing Provision.

People from ethnic minorities are heavily over-represented among people accepted for rehousing under homelessness legislation. The ODPM recently published research into this issue and a guide to developing services.

Education and Young People

Some homelessness prevention schemes involve working with young people, including school pupils, to educate them about the realities of homelessness and living independently. Newcastle City Council and the Children's Society have produced a web-based Homeless Youth Guide.

Centrepoint has developed a youth homelessness prevention activity pack for teachers and youth workers and runs a peer education project in Worcestershire. Brent Homeless Users Group (B.HUG), finalists for Homeless Link's Michael Whippman Prize, run Homelessness Roadshows to raise awareness of homelessness issues in schools. Shaidy Characters, also Michael Whippman finalists, have produced DVDs and training for schools and frontline staff to use to raise awareness of youth homelessness

Safe Moves is a proven approach to preventing homelessness among young people that was developed by the Foyer Federation.

What Housing Associations can do

As well as avoiding unnecessary evictions, housing associations can take a pro-active approach to preventing homelessness. The Housing Corporation has recently published a consultation paper tackling homelessness, which asks how housing associations can help prevent homelessness. The DCLG's policy briefing on Housing associations and homelessness includes examples where a housing association purchased the homes of people threatened with homelessness and took them on as tenants.