Statutory homelessness (England): The legal framework and performance

Local authorities in England are not obliged to house everyone who is experiencing or at risk of homelessness. They are required to take action depending on the circumstances of each case. They must comply with relevant legislation and case law, and must have regard to a statutory code of guidance.

This briefing provides an overview of the statutory homelessness framework in England, and how local authorities are performing against it. It also explains statutory homelessness trends and stakeholder views within the sector.

Statutory homelessness framework in England

The legal framework for statutory homelessness provision in England is set out in part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.

If someone applies to a local housing authority for assistance with obtaining accommodation, and they appear to be homelessness or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, the authority must carry out inquiries to establish what help they must provide. For example, they have to assess whether the applicant is statutorily homeless or threatened with homelessness and if so, whether they are eligible for assistance.

The statutory definition of homelessness extends beyond rooflessness or sleeping rough and can include situations where people are sofa-surfing or where their current home is unaffordable.

Eligibility is based on an applicant’s immigration and residence status in the UK.

Authorities are legally obliged to take ‘reasonable steps’ to try and prevent or relieve homelessness among all eligible applicants and their households. These are commonly known as the ‘prevention’ and ‘relief’ duties.

Local authorities are not obliged to secure accommodation for all people experiencing homelessness, but they must secure suitable accommodation for applicants who have or might have a ‘priority need’.

Trends in statutory homelessness over 2022/23

In the 2022/23 financial year, local authorities recorded around 298,000 homelessness prevention or relief duties owed to households following an initial assessment. About 141,000 of these were prevention duties while around 158,000 were relief duties.

The Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the homelessness work carried out by local authorities. In April to June 2020, the number of households owed a prevention duty fell by almost a third compared with the previous year. This is attributed to government measures aimed at reducing evictions during the pandemic. The number of relief duties rose by 18% over the same period, in part because of instructions to local authorities to provide housing for people experiencing or at risk of sleeping rough.

The number of households owed a prevention duty has started to return to pre-pandemic levels and was 5% higher in 2022/23 than in 2021/22. The increase is primarily driven by households with children, particularly those threatened with homelessness due to the end of an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) in the private rented sector.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (prior to 9 July 2024, known as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) collects data on the outcomes of households owed a homelessness duty by their local authority. Around two-thirds of all households owed a duty in 2022/23 either had accommodation secured or were owed a statutory ‘main duty’ to secure accommodation. This means they are unintentionally homeless and fall into a priority need group, so their local authority has a statutory duty to secure accommodation for them. The main duty is not assessed until the initial prevention and relief duties have elapsed.

Longer term trends

Statutory homelessness started to rise in 2010/11 for the first time since 2003/04. This is attributed to several factors, but primarily a continuing shortfall in the delivery of new affordable housing relative to levels of need. Changes to benefit entitlements are viewed as a significant contributory factor, particularly in areas with high private rent levels, such as London. One of the key findings in Crisis’ Homelessness monitor: England 2019 was that benefit changes made it difficult for local authorities in areas of high housing demand to secure suitable housing for eligible homeless households.

How local authorities are performing

Prior to the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) 2017 in April 2018, various commentators and politicians raised concerns about some areas of statutory homelessness service provision, including:

• people experiencing difficulties accessing statutory homelessness services, which often led to accusations of ‘gatekeeping’
• the standard of advice and assistance provided to people who are not in a category of priority need, such as single people and couples with no dependent children
• the legislative framework not prioritising prevention, which encouraged councils to intervene at the point of crisis
• an apparent impact of funding constraints on local authorities’ capacity to deliver their statutory functions

Post-introduction of the HRA 2017

The HRA introduced duties on local authorities to prevent and relieve homelessness. The new requirements should mean no one who is eligible, and homeless or threatened with homelessness, is turned away without advice and assistance, and a personal housing plan as a minimum. Evidence indicates that while more people are accessing meaningful help sooner, some people are still being turned away without an assessment.

The challenges faced by councils during the Covid-19 pandemic meant they had to adjust to new ways of working, such as improving pre-existing pathways for single homeless people, which according to research by the Local Government Association were “more effective and had potential for the future.”

The final report (2022) of a piece of longitudinal research carried out by Crisis found that while the HRA enhanced support for significantly more people facing homelessness, people were still being turned away with no help. Local authorities reported that a lack of housing options and not having enough staff or funding for their service was having a negative impact on their capacity to deliver the HRA’s aims. Crisis recommended:

• building on the intent of the HRA and widening legal protections to help everyone address their homelessness
• increasing the supply of social rented housing
• improving service standards through a statutory code of practice

In March 2023, the Local Government Ombudsman published a report, marking five years since the HRA came into force. The Ombudsman acknowledged the pressure on councils’ ability to deliver “more with less” and noted “many examples where councils have adopted the correct approach”. However, they found that some councils were still failing to carry out some of their legal obligations. For example, some were still delaying completing assessments and accepting duties. The Ombudsman highlighted that these failings “represent missed opportunities to achieve one of the main aims of the act: preventing homelessness.”

The Library briefing on Statutory homelessness (England): Causes and government policy summarises what is known about the causes of homelessness and outlines the UK Government’s approach to tackling homelessness in England, including its programme of commissioned research.