Homelessness is recognised as a pressing, and increasing, social challenge. But experiences of homelessness are unique to each individual, both in their path into homelessness and in finding an exit. In other fields of social policy there is a growing body of evidence that giving people agency to make decisions on how they overcome adversity is highly effective but there have been far fewer evaluations of its effectiveness for people experiencing homelessness.

The Centre for Homelessness Impact (CHI) and Greater Change (GC) have therefore joined forces to launch a pioneering programme that provides innovative personalised budgets to combat homelessness alongside a robust evaluation of the approach’s effectiveness. The project, which launched officially in August 2024, aims to assess the impact of providing personalised budgets to individuals with a history of rough sleeping, with the goal of aiding their transition out of homelessness.

Varying types of personal budgets have been used by a number of local authorities and providers of homelessness services for some time, but this work will evaluate a specific model developed by Greater Change. By using a person-centred approach to addressing homelessness GC provides transformative financial support in the form of personalised budgets to people experiencing homelessness. Greater Change works with partner charities to deliver support, guaranteeing accountability by working with expert and experienced providers. To date, GC has supported over 900 people so far, with 86% of those supported last year maintaining their move out of homelessness between 6 and 9 months later.  

Central to the success of this programme is its rigorous methodology, which utilises a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) design, considered the gold standard in research that allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of personalised budgets on housing stability and other key indicators of health and wellbeing. This will be conducted by academics at King’s College London. The project will involve both an intervention and control group, with people in the intervention group set to receive a personalised budget through their support worker, while people in the control group continue to receive typical homelessness services. The funds will be used for a range of needs, from clearing rent arrears to job training programmes or white goods. CHI and Greater Change are partnering with homelessness charities around the United Kingdom to recruit participants for the project.

The evidence base for the effectiveness of personalised budgets in low- and middle-income country settings is clear and conclusive. However, the use of personalised budgets in addressing homelessness has thus far only been evaluated a handful of times. This is the first programme of its kind in the United Kingdom, and the results will be immensely significant for efforts addressing homelessness.

This project is part of a larger project commissioned by the Centre for Homelessness Impact as part of the wider £15 million Test and Learn Programme, the aim of which is to test bold and innovative solutions to ending rough sleeping and reducing other forms of homelessness. The programme will run for three years, concluding in January 2027. The programme aims to test bold and innovative solutions, with an evidence-based approach. This process involves setting up new pilots in close collaboration with service providers which will be robustly tested to improve the evidence base of what works, for whom and how, and will inform future decision-making. This programme will include funding both for the services that need to be set up, as well as for the research activities. The choice of projects to be evaluated was shaped by leaders of local authority homelessness and housing teams, through responses to a call for practice, a survey and a series of workshops for practitioners and policy-makers.

• The image on this blog is from CHI's image bank, the first project of its kind in the world, containing photos of real people who have experienced homelessness. This image is of Laura and her daughter, Amelia. Laura was 24 and Amelia was four when they had their first experience of homelessness. It can be hard for Amelia having to move around and change schools. Having recently come out of a coma after four weeks due to sepsis, she’s currently out of work but hopes to soon find a job and a new place to feel settled and start afresh.