Understanding the Homelessness Reduction Act, 2017

The Homelessness Reduction Act is a law which aims to reduce homelessness by providing help to those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Here we will explain what the Act means and look at its success and failures.

Article updated: August 2026

Background of the Homelessness Reduction Act

The Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) 2017 significantly reformed England's homelessness legislation. Its main provisions commenced on 3 April 2018 and amended Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996; the separate duty to refer took effect on 1 October 2018. The Act placed new duties on housing authorities to intervene earlier and to take reasonable steps to prevent and relieve homelessness for eligible applicants, not just those with priority need.

The HRA was introduced based on the work of an independent panel of experts established by Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, and draws heavily on changes made to the Welsh homeless legislation in 2015. The Act was designed to address several issues with the way the current law was working in practice, including a lack of meaningful advice and assistance, some local authorities only helping at crisis points, and little protection for single people who did not have priority need or those who were 'intentionally homeless'.

The Act has three main aims: to prevent more people from becoming homeless in the first place by identifying people at risk and intervening earlier with evidenced solutions; to intervene rapidly if a homelessness crisis occurs, so it is brief and non-recurrent, and to help more people recover from and exit homelessness by getting them back on their feet.

The HRA represents a shift in focus towards prevention, with an emphasis on providing better support for single people and joining up services to provide better support for people, especially those leaving prison/hospital and other groups at increased risk of homelessness, such as people fleeing domestic abuse and care leavers.

What is the Homelessness Reduction Act?

The Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) 2017 has brought about a significant change in the approach to tackling homelessness, with a focus on prevention. It requires local authorities to take a proactive role in preventing homelessness by providing support at an earlier stage than was previously mandated, with the aim of reducing the incidence of homelessness.

Local housing authorities must assess eligible applicants who are homeless or threatened with homelessness and agree a personalised housing plan. Specified public authorities have a narrower duty: with the person's consent, they must refer someone they think may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to an English local housing authority.

The Act extends to England and Wales as a matter of legal jurisdiction, but these homelessness duties apply in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland operate separate statutory systems. The Act amended Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and also made related amendments to the Homelessness Act 2002.

What the Homelessness Reduction Act Means

Like most laws, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 is complex. However here are the main ways in which it contributes to homelessness legislation.

Local housing authorities must provide free homelessness information and advice. The prevention and relief duties apply to eligible applicants regardless of priority need or intentional homelessness, but they do not guarantee that every applicant will be provided with a home. The main housing duty still depends on eligibility, priority need and the applicant not being intentionally homeless.

Housing authorities have a duty to carry out an assessment of the situation and work with the affected person to develop a Personalised Housing Plan or PHP. This should include reasonable steps to be taken by the authority and individual to prevent or relieve homelessness.

The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 amended the period from which a person can be considered to be at risk of homelessness from 28 days to 56 days. This meant that housing authorities must work with people to prevent homelessness at an earlier stage. This is known as the extended prevention duty.

Local authorities must also take reasonable steps to help eligible applicants who are already homeless to secure accommodation. This relief duty normally lasts 56 days unless it ends earlier in another legally specified way; a council may continue it longer.

Housing authorities have a duty to take reasonable steps to help prevent any eligible person from becoming homeless by helping them to remain in their current home or assisting them to find a new home before they become homeless.

Since 1 October 2018, specified public authorities in England have had a duty, with the individual's consent, to refer service users they think may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a local housing authority in England. These public bodies include prisons, specified hospital services, probation services and Jobcentres in England.

The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 amended the law so that young people leaving care are considered as having a local connection to the local area where they were looked after.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021: The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 made some changes to homelessness legislation. This Act grants "priority need" to all eligible victims of domestic abuse who are homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse. It also introduces a new definition of domestic abuse.

Successes and Failures of the Homelessness Reduction Act

Here we will consider to what extent the Homelessness Reduction Act has succeeded or failed in its objectives.

• The Act widened prevention and relief help beyond applicants with priority need, although eligibility rules still apply and the duties do not guarantee a home.
• The Act does not mean that all homeless people are entitled to be or are provided with a home.
• The Homelessness Reduction Act has overburdened the system in some areas. Some local authorities are struggling to provide the help they are now required to provide.
• It has exacerbated funding problems, as local authorities often do not have the money to provide the service they are expected to. The initial funding to support the new law has now ended.
• People who are at risk of becoming homeless can receive help at an earlier point before they actually become homeless rather than having to wait until they are homeless. It is thought that if people at risk receive help before they become homeless they are less likely to actually become homeless at all. It has introduced a 'prevention is better than cure' approach to homelessness which did not exist before.
• It has possibly increased the use of temporary accommodation, such as hotels and B&Bs, in order to house homeless people. This type of accommodation is not always very suitable for the type of homeless people councils are able to house (such as families with children) and it is expensive for local authorities to provide.
• It has shown that there is a severe lack of affordable housing in many places.
• It has made local authorities increasingly reliant on the private sector to provide housing for homeless people since local authorities are unable to provide it themselves. This has created additional problems. For example, some private landlords are reluctant to house those on benefits.
• The service available can be inconsistent, depending on the ability and finances of the particular local authority. Getting help under the Homelessness Reduction Act can be something of a postcode lottery.

Homelessness Targets - Have They Been Met?

A government evaluation report, quoting research conducted by ICF Consulting Services Ltd. in association with Kantar Public and Heriot-Watt University, offers some further insight into the success and failure of the Homelessness Reduction Act. Just over half of local authority respondents said their service has improved for people who would previously have received limited homelessness support since the introduction of the Act. Almost a third of councils strongly agreed that the extended prevention duty enabled them to prevent homelessness more effectively.

Homelessness is not the same as rough sleeping. The 2019 commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024 was not met. The current England strategy, A National Plan to End Homelessness, sets a target to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament.

The latest annual official rough sleeping snapshot for autumn 2025 estimated that 4,793 people were sleeping rough on one night in England. This was a record high and the fourth annual rise: 126 people (3%) more than in 2024, 42 people (1%) above the former 2017 peak, and 3,025 people (171%) more than in 2010.

The snapshot is a single-night estimate. It is not the total number of people who are homeless, or who sleep rough over a year, and it cannot establish why rough sleeping changed. The figures nevertheless show that the former target was missed and that the pressures the Act was designed to address remain severe.

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