Supporting Couples

Homelessness services have historically been reluctant to offer housing and support to couples. As a result, people may be faced with a choice between their housing and their partner, and this often extends the time they are homeless on the streets. While responses have developed since we first published this page in 2017, support for couples and their relationships remains an issue in many areas.

This page features the most recent work in this area - the St Mungo's Homeless Couples and Relationships Toolkit (March 2020), with practical guidance for teams in services to develop their support.

Homeless Link's original 2017 guidance, also hosted below, was based on two hostel providers, Look Ahead and Riverside, who stood out for taking a positive approach to housing couples.

St Mungo's Homeless Couples and Relationships Toolkit

Thanks to St Mungo's for sharing this toolkit, first published March 2020, to help client-facing staff in the support they provide to couples.

Downloads

• StMungos_Homeless_Couples_Toolkit.pdf | 2809K

Supporting Couples in homelessness services

This briefing explores how services can house and support people who experience homelessness as part of a couple, with an appendix on welfare benefits and joint claims.

Downloads

• Supporting Couples June 2017.pdf | 145K
• Appendix - Couples and benefit claims.pdf | 216K