Homelessness prevention has had a much more prominent role within homelessness policy in recent years. Local authorities have begun to develop a range of specific prevention responses. This marks a move from the traditional model of councils intervening to tackle homelessness when it occurs to taking on a new more responsive culture that seeks to identify lasting solutions to people in a range of housing circumstances and difficulties.

Successful prevention strategies will involve a range of partners, representing the myriad of factors that can contribute to causing homelessness and the reflecting range of services that can contribute to preventing it. To effectively prevent homelessness, therefore, is not something that housing and homelessness services can achieve on their own, it will take the support of partners from a wide range of services and sectors. Furthermore, the available resources will also have to be targeted at what can be shown to work best.

This report contains a number of recommendations for policy and strategy staff at both a local and national level and for practitioners themselves. These reflect the fact that the prevention of homelessness agenda provides a real opportunity for organisations to work together to ensure that the misery, stress and devastation of homelessness can be avoided wherever possible. This is something we must all work towards.