Phil TurnerSpecialist Advisor

130,000 statutory homeless acceptances reported by LAs during 2003/04

130,000 preventions reported by LAs during 2008/09...

53,370 households were in temporary accommodation on 31 December 2009

47% fewer households were in TA at the end of 2009 than at the end of 2004

Research from Heriot-Watt University in 2007 demonstrated significant savings can be achieved when compared to the costs of fulfilling statutory duties for homeless households

Research from York University showed homelessness resulted in detrimental costs to the well being of homeless families

Research from National Centre for Social Research shows that street homeless people have multiple and complex needs (74% of rough sleepers having more one or more need)

The National Audit Office estimate that £1 billion is spent annually by the government on administering homelessness. They also state that £40-50 million has been saved from ending the use of bed and breakfast accommodation

Analysis by London Housing Federation has shown that preventing homelessness can contribute to achieving local area priorities; preventing homelessness can make a positive contribution to 42 national indicators

THERE IS A STRONG ARGUMENT TO SHOW THAT INVESTING IN HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION PROVIDES SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS...

Establish the cost of homelessness in your area

Establish the cost of each prevention scheme operated in your local area

Establish the cost of temporary accommodation used by the local authority

Use the evidence from taking these steps to understand the amount of savings that can be achieved per prevention

Use the evidence to understand the average amount of savings that can be achieved

Undertake an evaluation of the expenditure of homelessness grant in the local area

Map the impact of homelessness prevention schemes on achieving national indicators and local priorities

Report the findings to decision-makers setting out a clear and robust argument on the cost effectiveness of homelessness prevention

Statistics Definition

Average costs per case Total costs divided by the number of households supported by the scheme.

Costs per prevention Total costs divided by the number ofhousehold who would otherwise have been statutory homeless.

Accommodation cost savings Cost of temporary housing for a statutory homeless household.

Savings per prevention Total savings from preventing one homeless household including temporary accommodation costs and other costs avoided such as resulting from an eviction.

Average Savings Total savings from preventing homelessness under the scheme divide by the number of households supported

Review the information that is being captured locally (eg LAs with low levels of statutory homelessness – how much wider information do you collect – are you reporting ‘unsuccessful outcomes’ through E10?)

Develop information sharing agreements – partners work together to demonstrate;

•Demand?•Success?•Outcomes ?

•Costs?•Savings?

Publications on Statutory Homelessness Data, Communities & Local Government

http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/homelessnessstatistics/publicationshomelessness/

  Homelessness Prevention and Relief: England

2008/09 Experimental Statistics; Communities & Local Government; November 2009

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1393543.pdf

Profiling London’s Rough Sleepers: A Longitudinal Study of CHAIN data; Andreas Cebulla, Becky Rice, Wojtek Tomaszewski, Juliette Hough, Edited by Tamsin Savage, National Centre for Social Research; Broadway Homelessness and Support; June 2009

http://www.broadwaylondon.org/ResearchInformation/Research/ProfilingLondonsRoughSleepers

Statutory Homelessness in England: The Experiences of Families and 16-17 Year Olds; Nicholas Pleace, Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Sarah Johnson, Deborah Quilgars, Diana Sanderson, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York; Communities & Local; March 2008 http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/733835.pdf

Demonstrating Your Contribution: Homelessness and the New National Indicators; Sara Burns, Joy MacKeith; London Housing Foundation; January 2008 (revised February 2008) http://www.homelessoutcomes.org.uk/resources/1/PDFs/NIsDemonstratingaContribution.pdf

Evaluating Homeless Prevention; Hal Pawson, Gina Netto, Colin Jones, Fiona Wager, Cathie Fancy, Delia Lomax; School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University; Communities & Local Government; December 2007http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/573347.pdf

Causes of Homelessness Amongst Ethnic Minority Populations; Dr Marie-Claude Gervais and Hamid Rehman, ETHNOS research and consultancy; Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; September 2005 http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/causesamongstethnic

More Than a Roof: Progress in Tackling Homelessness, National Audit Office, February 2005http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0405/more_than_a_roof.aspx