A Foot In The Door: Experiences of the Homelessness Reduction Act

Cuchulainn Sutton-Hamilton, Research Officer

10.03.2020

Homelessness has a devastating impact on people and communities. Yet in nearly all cases homelessness is preventable. The implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) fundamentally changed the way that councils provide homelessness support in England. It places a much sharper focus on preventing people from losing their homes in the first place. This change in the law in 2018 is a direct response to evidence that showed that too many people seeking support were being turned away from council services without any help at all.

The HRA has introduced two new universal duties: a ‘prevention duty’ and a ‘relief duty’, Under the prevention duty local authorities must take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness for anyone at risk within 56 days. Under the relief duty, local authorities must take reasonable steps to help secure accommodation for those who are currently homeless and eligible. 

Crisis’ ‘A foot in the door’ report released today, looks at the early implementation of the HRA. Based on almost 1000 surveys exploring the experiences of those seeking help and the staff supporting them, the study is the most comprehensive evidence to date of how the HRA is working from the perspective of people facing homelessness.

Two of the most substantial differences made since the introduction of the HRA relate directly to the concerns raised in the 2014 study: increasing access and improving the experiences of people when they walk through the doors of Housing Options.

The research has found fewer people are being turned away from services: only 9% of participants reported that they were given no support at all. This was backed up by participants who had experience of council homelessness services pre and post the introduction of the HRA.

I expected to get no help like I had the previous few times, so it kind of blew me out of the water how much help I actually got this time around.

The new in-depth assessment process has been designed to increase the amount of support people receive from their initial meeting onwards. The research shows how much people valued the opportunity to spend time with and build a relationship with their housing officer. 75% of participants reported that they felt listened to and respected by staff during their assessment.

The guy was absolutely fantastic. I mean, I probably sat there with him for over an hour. Obviously I was a bit emotional because of the situation and everything, because I’ve never been through this before, and he was quite understanding.

The importance of this can’t be understated. The outcome of a negative experience at this stage can be significant ranging from increasing the trauma and vulnerability of an individual through to leading them to disengage from support overall. 

While the research has found that the HRA has helped in creating better relationships between staff and those receiving support, this is not following through to helping people find suitable, sustainable homes. Only 52 per cent of participants reported that they left their assessment feeling positive about their options.

I hoped there’d be more options, like, places to stay for people that are homeless.

Nearly 4 in 10 of research participants reported that they either remained rough sleeping or sofa surfing or their housing situation deteriorated after engaging with council services. This was particularly true for people experiencing the most devastating forms of homelessness, with people sleeping on the streets or on friends or family’s sofas, most likely to remain trapped in this situation after seeking help

A lack of genuinely affordable housing, high rents, and welfare reform are all creating a constant pressure that pushes people into homelessness and restricts local authorities in their options. If we don’t address these barriers, we are limiting the HRA from achieving its full potential.

This research shows that the HRA has led services to take an important step in easing the pressures and stresses that comes with becoming homeless. To maximise the impact of this important legislation, councils need to have the options available to them to quickly prevent and end people’s homelessness by providing the secure homes that we all need.  We need investment in Local Housing Allowance and social housing to ensure the HRA the can and should be at the heart of ending homelessness for good.