The law on homelessness sets out what councils are legally required to do to help people experiencing homelessness. In each nation of Great Britain, this is devolved to the governments. In the past, the laws were very similar but they are becoming increasingly different as each government brings in its own changes.
For example, Scottish councils now have to permanently house most people who go to them for help. In Wales and England, councils have to try and prevent people becoming homeless in the first place. These changes have improved the help that people experiencing homelessness have a right to. But we know many people still struggle to get help, and we think our governments can do more.
We talk to the Westminster, Scottish and Welsh governments to suggest ways they could improve the laws on homelessness. We also talk to councils about how they deliver their legal duties.
Recent changes in homelessness policy across the UK have strengthened support for people facing some of the most difficult situations. Here's what’s changed and what it means for people experiencing homelessness.
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 changed homelessness legislation in England and Wales to improve the way survivors are supported. It amends Part 7 of the 1996 Housing Act, granting all eligible survivors priority need for housing. These changes mean that anyone who is homeless because of domestic abuse now has a legal right to housing. And they no longer need to prove they’re vulnerable to qualify for help first.
The Act also expands the definition of domestic abuse to include emotional, controlling and coercive behaviour, not just physical violence. This important change will help to ensure that more survivors can access the support and protection they need.
The Act applies in England and Wales, and similar legal protections are now in place in Scotland and Northern Ireland too. While the laws are slightly different in each nation, all four now offer stronger support for those affected.
In January 2023, new rules came into force to help victims of human trafficking or modern slavery. People who have been granted limited leave to remain in the UK under the government’s Temporary Permission to Stay route are now eligible for homelessness assistance. They can also apply for social housing.
These changes apply across the UK and are designed to provide survivors with a safe place to call home while they rebuild their lives.
In Scotland a number of recent legal changes widen support for people facing homelessness.
An amendment to the The Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order means people must not be housed in unsuitable temporary accommodation for longer than 7 days.
Local connection referral laws have also been relaxed under the The Homeless Persons (Suspension of Referrals between Local Authorities) (Scotland) Order 2022. This means that people facing homelessness can get help from any council, no matter where they are from in Scotland.
In Wales, the Welsh Government enacted new laws under its Renting Homes (Wales) Act in 2022. Among other changes, this law now requires landlords to give six months notice to tenants where they are being evicted through no fault of their own.
In line with its national action plan to end homelessness, the Welsh Government is currently looking at overhauling its homelessness legislation. In the meantime, The Homelessness (Priority Need and Intentionality) (Wales) Regulations- introduced in 2022 - has provided more protection for people who are sleeping rough.
In England we are working with councils to deliver new legal duties to prevent and tackle homelessness.
In Scotland we are working with the government and others to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place and get even stronger rights for people facing homelessness.
In Wales we are working with the Welsh Government and others to look at strengthening the law on homelessness. We want to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place and to improve support for those facing homelessness.
Find out more about preventing homelessness.
The law on homelessness in England changed in 2017 when the Homelessness Reduction Act was passed by parliament. This is the result of successful campaigning by Crisis and other homelessness organisations.
Historically, people experiencing homelessness in England have only been able to get help if their local council thought they were a ‘priority’. This was mostly families with children. For years this has meant that many people without children have been turned away by councils. Some have had to sleep rough.
The Homelessness Reduction Act aimed to fix this by requiring councils to help more people. It introduced two new legal duties:
This means that anyone who is eligible is now entitled to some form of support from their local council. However, in practice, not everyone gets the help they are entitled to. Rules around eligibility, priority need, intentional homelessness and local connection continue to shut people out of support.
There is still no guaranteed legal right to accommodation for people who are sleeping rough. And single people without children are still more likely to be turned away.
We believe the law needs to go further. People at risk of sleeping rough should automatically be considered in priority need. There should also be a new legal right to emergency accommodation and more support for people currently excluded from help.
The best way to solve homelessness is to stop it from happening in the first place. That’s why prevention needs to be at the heart of any changes to homelessness law in England.
That’s why we’re calling for an expert review panel to be created, to carry out a full review of homelessness law in England. The review should look at embedding a prevention approach, as well as the role of priority need, intentional homelessness and local connection, so that we can make sure anyone facing, or at risk of, homelessness is legally entitled to support.
Read more about our No One Turned Away campaign to change the law in England.
Unlike in the rest of Great Britain, in Scotland there has been no distinction between ‘priority’ and ‘non-priority’ need since 2012. The other two tests for accessing support for people who are homeless – whether they are ‘intentionally’ homeless, and whether they have a connection to the local area – have also been relaxed. This gives people in Scotland some of the strongest homelessness rights in the world.
It means anyone from Scotland who is experiencing homelessness can go to any Scottish council for help and they should be provided with somewhere to stay temporarily. Most people are also entitled to permanent accommodation, which usually means a social tenancy.
But in practice, there is a major shortage of permanent housing. This means people are getting stuck in the homelessness system for longer and longer. People often have to stay in temporary accommodation for extended periods of time, sometimes in really poor conditions. Many councils are facing significant pressures and the Scottish Housing Regulator has described some as being in ‘systemic failure’.
Crisis believes that we need to get much better at preventing people becoming homeless in the first place. We have been pressing for changes to the law since 2016. Between 2019 and 2021 we worked to develop proposals for a new legal approach to preventing homelessness in Scotland, involving a wide range of public services like health, social care, prisons, police and education.
As a result of our work and campaigning, the Scottish Government developed new duties to prevent homelessness which they put into the Housing Bill that came to the Scottish Parliament in Spring 2024.
This bill is to become law in late 2025. Local councils and other public services will need to work much more closely together to help identify when people’s homes are at risk and ensure the right support is in place so that people continue to have somewhere to call home.
Read more about our work in Scotland
The Welsh government introduced a new law on homelessness in 2014. It requires councils to try and prevent people becoming homeless in the first place. It also means more people get help.
While this law was a step in the right direction, it still leaves
many people without the support they need. The system doesn’t go far enough to prevent homelessness early or respond to people’s circumstances in a flexible, trauma-informed way.
That’s why in 2022, Crisis was invited by the Welsh Government to coordinate a panel of experts to explore how changing the law could help end homelessness. The panel’s recommendations were shaped by input from more than 300 people with lived experience of homelessness in Wales. It also included consultation with professionals across housing, health, education, criminal justice and more.
The Welsh Government has reflected many of the panel's recommendations, and changes that Crisis has been calling for, within its draft new Homelessness and Social Housing Allocations Bill. If passed, this law will help people earlier, improve access to support, and ensure that public services work together more effectively to support people who are facing homelessness.
We know that councils across Wales are under significant pressure and that many people are facing long stays in temporary accommodation. It is vital that we press ahead with these changes to the law to help prevent homelessness from happening in the first place. And that these changes are accompanied with investment and social housing.
We will continue to work with the Welsh Government and councils across Wales. We want to ensure that key changes to the law are given the green light and deliver meaningful change. Everyone needs a safe and secure place to call home.
