71 areas to build evidence of what works to end homelessness

The Centre for Homelessness Impact has announced that 54 organisations, including local authorities and voluntary sector organisations, have been recruited to deliver a ground-breaking programme to generate new evidence of what works to relieve and prevent rough sleeping and other forms of homelessness.

The Test & Learn programme, funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, will evaluate eight innovative homelessness services that will be delivered in communities across England over the next two and a half years.

Local authorities and voluntary sector organisations interested in running these new services were invited to apply to take part and a total of 262 engaged in this process. Their bids were assessed against published criteria for each project, with decisions reviewed by a grants and evaluation committee. 

Across the programme we will be working in partnership with 54 organisations: 38 local authorities, 13 voluntary community and social enterprise organisations, and two companies to support the delivery of projects. In all, the Test & Learn programme will operate in 71 local authority areas in England.

Those areas whose bids were successful will receive funding through the programme to cover the cost of the service, meaning that thousands of people experiencing or at risk of rough sleeping or other forms of homelessness will receive new forms of support. 

Dr Lígia Teixeira, CEO of the Centre for Homelessness Impact, said: “This milestone marks a significant step forward in our mission to build a robust evidence base for ending homelessness. We are encouraged by the scale of interest and the dedication of the 54 organisations across 71 local areas who have joined our Test & Learn programme. While not every application could be successful, the enthusiasm and commitment from across the sector demonstrate a collective drive to find effective solutions for rough sleeping and homelessness. We look forward to working with these partners over the next two and a half years and sharing our findings to help shape future efforts and make a meaningful impact on ending homelessness for good.”

Separately, submissions were also invited from universities or evaluation consultancies interested in evaluating the impact of each project. Six evaluators were selected in this way. 

The eight projects within the programme were selected through a rigorous feasibility study undertaken by the Centre for Homelessness Impact that included consultation with dozens of local authorities, service providers, government departments and academics, a call for practice and an analysis of the existing evidence base of the impact of homelessness interventions.

The participants chosen to deliver each of the eight projects are as follows:  

‍Citadel: a volunteer-led homelessness prevention project, which supports people who have a history of rough sleeping and/or are at risk of rough sleeping, to find or sustain their tenancies and establish a home.

Areas the projects will operate in: Bristol, Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham, Greenwich, Bromley, Bexley, Sheffield, Cornwall, Hastings

Delivery partner: Housing Justice

Evaluation partners: Ipsos, IFF Research

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‍Personalised budgets: the aim is to provide financial support for people with a history of rough sleeping tied to a purpose that would allow them to exit homelessness. This may include things like buying work tools, getting a driver's licence or securing a deposit.

Areas the projects will operate in: Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset, Somerset West and Taunton, Westminster, Wandsworth, Lambeth, Havering, Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing, Camden, Barnet, Barnsley, Bradford, Manchester, Cambridge, Leicester, North West Leicestershire, Leeds, Newham, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Thanet, Dartford, Canterbury, Folkestone, Dover, Sevenoaks, Islington, Gravesham

Delivery partners: Greater Change, Action Homeless, DePaul, Turning Lives Around, Your Place, Second Step, Porchlight, Centerpoint, Cambridge Cyrenians, Islington Council, Gravesham Council

Evaluation partners: King’s College London, IFF Research

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‍Individual Placement and Support (IPS): a specialist employment service for people with experience of homelessness and rough sleeping who have high support needs, which focuses on helping people to access paid employment immediately, alongside the offer of ongoing in-work support. 

Areas the projects will operate in: Barnsley, Rotherham, Sheffield, Barnet, Fareham, Wakefield, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin

Delivery partners: IPS Grow, Beam, South Yorkshire Housing Association, Shropshire Council

Evaluation partner: IFF Research

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Outreach with a health specialism: including a health specialist as part of a rough sleeping outreach team to test the benefit to people sleeping rough with more acute health needs and whether this has a positive impact on other individuals sleeping out. 

Areas the projects will operate in and delivery partners: Liverpool, Solihull, Oldham, Ealing, Croydon, Haringey, Peterborough, Tameside, Greenwich, Watford, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Kingston upon Thames, Waltham Forest, Hounslow, Preston

Delivery partner: Change Grow Live

Evaluation partner: Cardiff University

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‍Time-limited accommodation and immigration advice for people with limited eligibility to public funds: this service will provide legal advice and time-limited accommodation, usually for up to 20 weeks, for people sleeping rough who have limited recourse to public funds due to their immigration status.

Areas the projects will operate in and delivery partners: Coventry, Reading, Wolverhampton, Luton

Evaluation partner: Behavioural Insights Team

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‍Accommodate or connect for individuals sleeping rough without a local connection: people sleeping rough who have no local connection to the area will be offered temporary accommodation in the area or supported to make a voluntary reconnection elsewhere.
Areas the projects will operate in and delivery partners: Great Yarmouth, Cambridge, Hastings, Islington

Evaluation partner: King’s College London, London Economics

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‍Better use of council data to prevent homelessness: using a data science platform to combine data from across the local authority to identify households at greater risk of homelessness due to financial stress and offer support in a human-centred way, such as a payment plan that would mean avoiding court, bailiffs, and additional costs. 

Areas the projects will operate in and delivery partners: Xantura, Barking and Dagenham, Kensington and Chelsea, Stockport, Test Valley, Newham

Evaluation partner: Verian Group and Simetrica-Jacobs

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‍Young people leaving care: an evaluation of the Department for Education’s funding for intensive, individual support for young people leaving care and joint working arrangements with local authority housing and other key services. 

Evaluation partner: Verian Group and Simetrica-Jacobs

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