An Exploration into the Homelessness Reduction Act, 2017
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by Robert Jones, Founder of Property Investments UK
With nearly two decades in UK property, Rob has been investing in buy-to-let since 2005, and uses property data to develop tools for property market analysis.
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.
Background of the Homelessness Reduction Act
The Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) of 2017, implemented on April 3, 2018, was a significant legislative step taken to address the growing issue of homelessness in the United Kingdom. The Act was designed to place new duties on housing authorities to intervene earlier to prevent homelessness and to take reasonable steps to relieve homelessness for all eligible applicants, not just those that have priority needs under the Act. This Act does not replace the previous legislation but ‘bolts on’ new duties.
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.
In addition to this, the HRA has broadened the duties of local councils and other public bodies. They are now obligated to provide a specific level of service to those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This includes offering advice and assistance that is tailored to the individual's circumstances and taking practical steps to prevent homelessness.
While the HRA is a law that is specific to England, it has made amendments to the Homelessness Act 2002. It should be noted that homelessness policies in Scotland and Wales are governed by different laws.
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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 (which are the local council) must provide homelessness services to all those affected not just those who have what is considered to be a priority need. They have a duty to provide information to everyone. They must give proper consideration to all applications for housing assistance and make inquiries to see if they have a duty to help. This was a change from the previous situation where local authorities only had to help those at risk of homelessness if they considered them to be a priority.
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.
This also means that local authorities must assist those who are already homeless to relieve their homelessness for a period of at least 56 days. This is known as the relief duty.
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.
The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 introduced a duty of referral on certain public authorities to (with the individual’s consent) refer service users who they think may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a housing authority. Local housing authorities must work effectively with these bodies. These public bodies can include prisons, hospitals, probation services and Jobcentre Plus for example.
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.
- More people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness have become entitled to help with their situation. The Homelessness Reduction Act means that local authorities cannot decide who they are willing to help and who they are not. It means that no one who is homeless or at risk of homelessness should be unable to obtain help.
- 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 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 necessarily the same as rough sleeping. However, in the 2017 General Election, the Conservative Party made a commitment to halve rough sleeping over the course of that parliament and eliminate it altogether by 2027. In 2019 they committed to eliminating it altogether by 2024.
This official report for autumn 2021 says that the number of people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night fell for the fourth year in a row from its peak in 2017. It adds that there were 2,440 people estimated to be sleeping rough in England on a single night in the autumn of 2021. This was down by 9% from 2020 and down 49% from the peak in 2017 but was up by 38% (or 670 people) since 2010.
As of 2023, the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) continues to be a critical piece of legislation in addressing homelessness in England. However, the effectiveness of the Act is still a subject of ongoing evaluation and debate. While the Act has undoubtedly led to improvements in the provision of support for those at risk of homelessness, challenges persist. The complexities of homelessness, including its root causes and the wide range of circumstances faced by those affected, mean that the HRA is just one part of a broader solution needed to address this issue.
In terms of the Conservative Party's commitment to eliminate rough sleeping by 2024, recent statistics indicate that this goal is still a significant challenge. According to data from 2022, the number of people sleeping rough in England rose to 3,069, marking an increase after several years of decline. This suggests that while progress has been made, with an ongoing cost of living crisis, homelessness is increasing and the commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024, will not be met.