Preventing homelessness in the UK - exploring the strengths and weaknesses of these new legislative frameworks with a view to enhancing current understandings of effective homelessness prevention

Recent years have seen a number of highly significant developments in homelessness policy across the UK, most notably in Wales via the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 and more recently in England via the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. These changes to homelessness legislation introduce duties on local authorities in England and Wales to prevent homelessness for a wide group of individuals experiencing or at risk of experiencing it. Understanding the impacts of these policy shifts, and particularly distilling evidence from practice development regarding new and effective ways of preventing homelessness, will be of particular value across and beyond the UK in informing policy development. This study will explore the strengths and weaknesses of these new legislative frameworks with a view to enhancing current understandings of effective homelessness prevention.