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The Thinkhouse Review: what impact has the Homelessness Reduction Act actually had?
In our monthly look at housing research, Professor Phil Brown examines the impact of one of the most important changes to homelessness legislation in England in the past 40 years and asks if the post-COVID era will be remembered in a similar inspirational way to the post-war years when it comes to housing
This month’s blog comes a little later than planned.
At the start of lockdown I looked on the brighter side and thought this would be a chance to finally get some writing done.
How wrong I was. Physical meetings have morphed into virtual meetings and more meetings are inevitably needed in order to overcome new challenges that have emerged.
As always, like water, work adapts and finds a way through. As a result of adapting to the current state of affairs certain tasks are taking longer, writing being one of them.
However, I fully recognise how fortunate I am, as many other people face more serious challenges than what online provider to use – my thoughts are extended to everyone who is experiencing the sharp end of this crippling global phenomenon.
We had 17 reports to review during April and two reports in particular offered comprehensive and insightful analyses of housing in the UK. The first of these was A Foot In The Door: Experiences of the Homelessness Reduction Act.
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This report is the interim research report from Crisis into the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act.
Although the lockdown measures seemingly focused the minds of policy actors on rough sleepers and others in precarious housing, it is likely that the steps taken will offer only temporary respite and we will return to ‘normal’ as soon as the lockdown starts to be relaxed.
This is why we need to fully understand the delivery and impacts of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. This is one of the most important changes to homelessness legislation in England in the past 40 years, making homelessness prevention a central part of the statutory framework.
It was designed to put prevention at the centre of homelessness assistance and remove barriers for people accessing statutory homelessness services.
The interim report It is based on 984 surveys and 89 in-depth interviews across six local authority areas with those approaching services for support.
It reports on some encouraging progress with respect to homelessness assistance, outlining widening access and better quality of contact with housing options teams.
Inevitably there remains areas for improvement. It was also clear that a major frustration for tackling homelessness was the constraints maintained by the housing market, welfare system and funding.
However, the findings did show that early intervention meant an increased likelihood that there would be a lasting, positive impact.
Observations on the state of the sector from this report brings me to the second impressive report this month which is, of course, the annual UK Housing Review.
The review is now in its 28th edition and it brings together a range of key financial and performance data about public and private housing in the UK.
The review has been covered in previous articles in Inside Housing and its significance in helping to understand the state of housing in the UK should not be understated.
This edition once again benefits from contributions from some of the best thinkers on housing in the UK today and the ‘commentary’ section augments the data with contemporary research and policy analysis.
It is a superbly conceived and presented report. I particularly liked the roll-call of post-war English housing ministers on the inside cover which is overlaid with a chart documenting housing completion over this time.
By the time lockdown measures start to be eased I’m sure most people will at least try to return to something resembling their previous lives.
However, a great many people will be far worse off, some significantly so and the country in a financial state not seen for a generation or more.
We tend to look back on the post-war years as offering a new inspirational time for housing in the UK. Dare we imagine that the same could be said of the post-COVID-19 era?
An indirect result of the confinement of huge swathes of the population has been the opportunity to reflect on where and how ourselves and others live.
Although I may be unrealistically optimistic in hoping that an outcome of the current situation may be some kind of renaissance in how we value the places we live, might housing once again become spaces that offer genuine sanctuary, shelter and security rather than income or status?
