About

The Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AfEO) programme provided housing support to people leaving prison across England. In Phase 1, £11.5m (74% of budget) was spent; Phase 2 expanded to £23.7m with 59% spent by the time of analysis (2023-24).

Local authorities recruited dedicated staff who delivered holistic, person-centred support including housing assistance, links to employment services, and tenancy sustainment. Strong partnerships were built with prisons, probation services, private landlords and community agencies. However, staff recruitment was challenging due to perceptions about working with people with offending histories, and data collection limitations meant it was difficult to evidence the programme's contribution to long-term outcomes.‍

Findings in Brief

Referrals and tenancies: National referrals increased by 30% from Phase 1 to Phase 2, with 2,562 private rented tenancies secured (a 12% increase). However, no sampled local authority met their tenancy targets, largely due to limited affordable housing in the private rental sector.

Tenancy sustainment: 65% of people maintained their accommodation for more than six months, with 60% of exits being successful graduations to independent housing.

Homelessness and reoffending: Data suggested the programme may have reduced homelessness and rough sleeping among people leaving prison, with recall rates appearing lower than the national average. However, data limitations prevented firm conclusions.

Unintended Consequences

Positive: Stronger partnerships between local authorities, probation, prisons and employment services; improved understanding of local needs and support for vulnerable groups.

Negative: Tensions with other vulnerable groups awaiting housing; limited referrals for women whose high support needs often weren't met during shorter sentences; concerns that the broad eligibility (anyone within 12 months of leaving custody) limited space for people moving on from CAS3; regional disparities due to lack of national standardisation.

Enablers of Successful delivery

• Co-location: Housing teams within prisons enabling effective collaboration with probation colleagues
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• ‍One-to-one tenancy sustainment support: Helping individuals maintain their tenancies
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• Managing realistic expectations: Informing individuals about what is achievable and affordable
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• Continuity of engagement: Pre- and post-release support maintaining consistency in support journey
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• Multi-agency forums: Involving various partners to facilitate efficient collaboration and information sharing
  

• Transfer of learning: Across authorities through regional or sub-regional oversight bodies or combined authorities
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• ‍Dedicated staff: Passionate and engaged individuals within local authorities leading the programme

Barriers:

• Limited availability and affordability: Of private sector accommodation
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• Local Housing Allowance constraints: Limited options for people under 35 due to LHA rates (shared accommodation rate)
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• Cross-departmental competition: Between Home Office and MHCLG adding pressure in housing market
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• Tenancy preparation delays: Particularly when individuals struggled obtaining essential documents
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• Unwieldy referral systems: Local authority systems to submit referrals could be onerous for professionals
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• Discrimination and stigma: From landlords due to offending histories of people leaving prison
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• Funding uncertainty: Uncertainty around whether funding would continue inhibited local authorities from making strategic informed decisions

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