In our anniversary year, we are taking action to make sure we are not still needed 50 years from now.
The plan will present the practical solutions needed to end homelessness in Britain. These will be underpinned by evidence and examples of the change that needs to happen. The plan will be targeted at the politicians and decision makers who can make its aims a reality.
We know more than ever about the causes of homelessness through our research and work, side by side, with tens of thousands of homeless people. Meanwhile, growing evidence from the UK and internationally shows that it can be ended. We want to make sure this is the generation to do it across Britain.
The plan will be developed throughout our 50th year. It will be published in June 2018.
Homelessness is hard to define and numbers can vary. The plan will focus on those in most immediate need of support. This includes people:
We can't do this on our own. The plan will be developed in collaboration with other people and organisations with experience of homelessness who will contribute their expertise and ultimately help to make the plan work.
We will work with people who have been homeless themselves as well as policy makers and other organisations working in homelessness, health and education.
We are not saying no one will ever be kicked out of their home or lose their job. However, the plan will provide solutions to prevent homelessness and show how to deal with it quickly and permanently when it does still occur.
Following consultation across Britain with more than 400 homelessness experts, including 100 people with lived experience of homelessness, we have produced a definition of ending homelessness that gives us tangible targets to measure the plan's progress against:
1. No one sleeping rough.
2. No one forced to live in transient or dangerous accommodation such as tents squats and non-residential buildings
3. No one living in emergency accommodation such as shelters and hostels without a plan for rapid rehousing into affordable, secure and decent accommodation
4. No one homeless as a result of leaving a state institution such as prison or the care system
5. Everyone at immediate risk of homelessness gets the help they need that prevents it happening
For a full explanation of each point of the definition, and the consultation process that helped us develop them, read our background paper (PDF).
There are a growing number of examples from overseas of new successful approaches to ending homelessness, most notably Finland, where a Housing First approach which prioritises supporting people into their own homes as quickly as possible has practically ended rough sleeping. Meanwhile, as recently as the early 2000s, the UK Government's Rough Sleepers' Initiative used new funding and a multi-agency approach to dramatically reduce the number of people sleeping on the streets. Ending homelessness doesn't mean that no one will ever lose their home again - it means it rarely happens, and there's a quick solution at hand when it does. We know more than ever about the causes and consequences of homelessness. Where we can predict it, we can prevent it.
Homelessness is not inevitable. We don't intend to be needed in 50 years' time. Find out how we have worked with those with experience of homelessness and those who work on the issue or in related sectors such as health, criminal justice or local government to develop out plan.
Read more about how other countries are working to end homelessness.