We updated the SHARE platform so that, for the first time, it includes data from individual local authorities. The platform now includes, in a single, and easily accessible format, key indicators such as how many people have applied for homelessness support, the number of households living in temporary accommodation and numbers of individuals with a history of street homelessness.

Previously the SHARE reporting platform only showed country-level data for these indicators across the United Kingdom. Increasingly this will be supplemented in the platform by figures from individual councils.

Including data from local authorities means that policy makers, people delivering homelessness services and citizens will, over time, be able to see what progress each council is making towards ending homelessness.This will help to shine a light on bright spots: areas where good work is being done to reduce homelessness. And it will identify communities where progress is slower or may have stalled.

Crucially, it will enable policy makers, practitioners and citizens to compare data between local authorities in one easy-to-find platform.

The SHARE platform has been expanded with 16 new indicators and updated data for other 14 indicators; following a partnership between the Centre for Homelessness Impact and the Office for National Statistics. In total, the platform now includes 61 indicators.

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New local authority-level data shows figures on:

• Homelessness applications, 
• Homelessness assessments, 
• The number of people who experience street homelessness
• Concealed households, 
• Households in temporary accommodation 
• Length of time they stay in temporary accommodation
• The average time taken to process applications, 
• Outcomes of homelessness assessment 
• Number of people with a history of homelessness and a history of street homelessness.   

Further national level data has been added to the platform indicators known to contribute to homelessness: on the supply of affordable housing, debt levels and numbers of people leaving care homes, hospital leavers and young people leaving local authority care and domestic abuse cases, just to name a few.

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The SHARE Framework, which was launched in 2018, was designed to provide a bird’s-eye view of homelessness as a whole. It is divided into five strands of work that evidence shows are critical to ending homelessness sustainably: Smart Policy, Housing System, All in it Together, Relational and Ecosystem of Services. Its accompanying reporting platform was launched in beta version in January 2020.

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The addition of local authority-level data will enable councils to get local targets to reduce homeless. The Centre for Homelessness Impact has begun conversations with local authorities in the What Works Community to explore how this can be done.

The Centre for Homelessness Impact is working with the Government Statistical Service to identify existing public data sets that are currently not included on the SHARE framework and are working out how best to fill current gaps in the data.

Another update is expected to be ready by the end of 2021. 
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This is a joint article by Guillermo Rodríguez-Guzmán, Head of Evidence and Data, Centre for Homelessness Impact and Tony Wilkins, Government Statistical Service, Housing and Homelessness Coherence.