Written evidence submitted Centrepoint by (TH0011)
The three reports referenced in this call for evidence—Homeless Households (2017), the Committee’s 2024 Report on Ukraine, and the 2024 NAO Report—collectively highlight the increasing prevalence of homelessness across the UK. In recent years, the number of young people experiencing homelessness in the UK has risen significantly, with government data highlighting increases in both the number of households in temporary accommodation and the number of individuals sleeping rough. Young people are particularly vulnerable to the challenges posed by insecure housing, often bearing the brunt of broader systemic issues.
The introduction of the HRA (2017) sought to address these challenges by expanding the responsibilities of local authorities to prevent and relieve homelessness. Despite these efforts, the issue has been exacerbated by a combination of factors, including a severe shortage of affordable housing, escalating rental costs, welfare reforms, and the growing strain on local authorities resources.
The National Audit Office’s (NAO) 2024 review further highlights the evolving and worsening landscape of homelessness. It reveals that homelessness challenges are no longer confined to London and major metropolitan areas but are increasingly affecting other parts of the country, creating unprecedented financial pressures on local authorities.
To address the issues highlighted, Centrepoint proposes the government move to a longer-term planning strategy. By developing proactive funding schemes and programmes that prevent homelessness, increase affordable housing supply and regulates the private rental sector, the government would be able to begin to tackle the growing problem of youth homelessness.
Despite significant increases in spending, funding for homelessness services remains inconsistent, predominantly short-term, and insufficient to meet the growing demand. This fragmented approach to funding has created substantial barriers to long-term planning and investment in preventative measures, as well as in the development of high-quality temporary and permanent housing solutions.
While recent budget allocations have added some resources, evidence indicates these are still inadequate. For example, Centrepoint’s Databank reports that 35% of young people seeking support from homelessness services do not receive a completed assessment, highlighting systemic resource gaps that undermine the effectiveness of local authority interventions.
In terms of expenditure, local councils have more than doubled their spending on homelessness services over the past decade, increasing from £1.14 billion in 2010-11 to £2.44 billion in 2022-23. A substantial portion of this spending—over £1.6 billion in 2022-23—is consumed by the soaring costs of temporary accommodation, which now constitutes 60% of total local government housing service expenditure, compared to 25% in 2010-11.
Research by Centrepoint, carried out by WPI Economics underscores, shows that the "main duty" stage of the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) process is the most expensive component, primarily due to the high costs of temporary accommodation, which make up 88% of the expenditure associated with this duty. Administration costs account for 10%, while direct support comprises only 2%. These findings highlight the critical need to move away from reliance on costly temporary housing and toward implementing long-term solutions, such as expanding social housing and reforming the private rental sector.
Furthermore, the analysis by WPI Economics and Centrepoint demonstrates that cases involving the main duty stage are significantly more expensive than other pathways under the HRA. The most costly trajectory occurs when an individual at risk of homelessness progresses through prevention, relief, and ultimately main duty acceptance, incurring an average cost of £29,532 per case in England. In regions with higher housing costs, such as London and the South of England, this figure is likely much higher.
In contrast, cases that successfully resolve at earlier stages of intervention are substantially less expensive. For instance:
One major area of homelessness prevention in which government could be investing resources is Upstream Prevention, where those at risk of homelessness are identified and supported early on. Centrepoint's Upstream Prevention Programme is targeted at school year groups consisting of children between the ages of 11-16 and uses a two-stage process - a screening survey and follow up support. The survey asks questions about wellbeing, resilience, education, and housing, and identifies young people who could be at risk of individual and/or familial homelessness in the future. Data from the surveys has shown that: 88% of surveyed children have concerns with their wellbeing; 32% are experiencing bullying (with 8% saying that they are bullied almost every day);14% are at risk of disengagement from education; and 12% are at risk of individual homelessness and 15% family homelessness.
To support young people at risk of homelessness, Centrepoint delivers a sticky support model of general mentoring, while working in partnership with local organisations to provide a holistic and person-centred offer, e.g. family mediation services – supporting families to overcome issues and tensions that may lead to homelessness. By replicating this work across the country, Government could identify and provide support to children who are likely to access local authority homelessness support in later life - potentially saving government tens of thousands of pounds per person and reducing reliance on expensive temporary accommodation.
These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing early intervention and prevention strategies, which not only yield significantly lower costs but also reduce reliance on temporary accommodation. Investing in these measures, alongside increasing the availability of long-term housing options, is essential to creating a more effective and sustainable approach to tackling homelessness.
To address these challenges and improve outcomes for individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness, we propose the following policy recommendations:
By adopting these measures, the government can move away from reactive spending on temporary solutions and towards a more sustainable and equitable approach to addressing homelessness. This shift is essential to alleviate pressure on local authorities, reduce overall costs, and, most importantly, provide young people and others at risk with the support and stability they need to rebuild their lives.
As the call for evidence highlights, the HRA introduced significant reforms, including earlier intervention and a stronger focus on prevention. While these changes have had positive procedural impacts, they have not resulted in a reduction in youth homelessness. Centrepoint argues that this is predominantly an implementation and accountability issue, rather than an inadequacy within the act.
Data collected by Centrepoint suggests that many local authorities are engaging in practices that block access to homelessness support – often called gatekeeping. Data obtained from the Centrepoint Helpline between July 2023 and September 2024 shows that 564 young people experienced forms of local authority gatekeeping in England between July 2023 and 11 September 2024.
Of the young people recorded as having experienced gatekeeping, 255 were female (45%), 174 were male (31%) and 10 identified as non-binary or transgender (2%) and 125 respondents did not disclose this information. Worryingly, there were 82 recorded instances of gatekeeping where the applicant had children or were pregnant at the time of contacting the helpline (14.6%).
Helpline staff report seeing an increasing number of gatekeeping cases involving young people who are pregnant/have children in the last year. One Council told a pregnant 20-year-old who was rough sleeping that she will only be considered priority need once she reaches 20 weeks pregnant and can provide her MAT B1 form. This goes against the Homeless Code of Guidance: 8.5 Normal confirmation of pregnancy, e.g. a letter from a medical professional, such as a midwife, should be adequate evidence of pregnancy.
Local authorities are obliged to try and prevent or relieve homelessness for all applicants who are eligible for assistance and are homeless or threatened with homelessness, irrespective of whether they may have a priority need for accommodation. However, many councils are denying support to young people who should have priority need status, such as those who are pregnant/with children and/or with experiences of domestic abuse.
Several factors limit the HRA’s effectiveness for young people:
Although the HRA has improved procedural efficiency, it has been unable to overcome these broader economic and systemic pressures, leaving youth homelessness at persistently high levels.
Youth homelessness presents distinct challenges across urban, rural, and semi-rural areas. Data from the Centrepoint 2022-23 Databank reveals notable regional disparities in the number of young people approaching local authorities for support.
Compared to the 2021/222 financial year, the average number of presentations decreased by 18 per cent for predominantly urban areas, while it increased respectively by 9 and 10 per cent for predominantly rural and urban with significant rural areas. This suggests that this year’s increase in the number of young people at risk of homelessness in England is predominantly due to higher number of presentations outside of urban areas.[1]
This shift suggests that the rising number of young people at risk of homelessness is increasingly concentrated outside urban centres, presenting new challenges for local authorities in rural and semi-rural areas. These regions often have fewer dedicated resources and infrastructure to support young people facing homelessness, exacerbating the difficulties in addressing their needs.
November 2024
[1] Failure to Act - The scale of youth homelessness in the UK - Databank Report.pdf