Evaluation of Housing Act (Wales) 2014

The Housing Act (Wales) 2014 introduced changes to the way homelessness is addressed, extending services aiming to prevent homelessness and assisting all eligible applicants. It introduced a new duty for local authorities to help prevent homelessness by carrying out reasonable steps to help anyone asking. The length of time when people were considered to be threatened with homelessness was also increased from 28 days to 56. Furthermore, a new framework was created that involved housing associations and the private renting sectors. The Act aimed to ensure that early interventions were in place to prevent crises.

This research was a longitudinal post-implementation evaluation of the Act, conducted by Wrexham Glyndwr University and The University of Salford, funded by Welsh Government. The aim was to understand how the Act was implemented by organisations and local authorities, informing Welsh Government’s understanding of its impact. The team wanted to identify any areas for improvement and assess the impact of the legislation on service users and key partners.

The evaluation began in 2016 and involved qualitative and quantitative research methods, guided by the Welsh Government and an advisory group containing key stakeholders from organisations such as Community Housing Cymru, Chartered Institute of Housing, and Shelter Cymru. Research instruments were developed by researchers and approved by Welsh Government.

Two surveys were conducted one year apart with local authority stakeholders to gather information relating to the various stages of the Act. Researchers also consulted service users to explore the impact of service changes from the perspective of people who had received support. Interviews were conducted across six local authority areas with people who were receiving assistance at that time. Interviews were also conducted with service providers across Registered Social Landlords and the Third Sector.

Some key findings over the course of the evaluation:

• There were increases in the allocation of local authority social housing and the proportion of households deemed to have become homeless intentionally, had reduced.
• There was unanimous support for the intent of the Act amongst service providers and local authority respondents.
• There was significant variation across Wales and within local authority areas to the extent the ethos of the Act had been adopted.
• Successful implementation of the Act depended on the skills, expertise, and behaviour of staff delivering the service, and also availability and affordability of housing in a particular area.
• Most local authorities reported challenges in implementing the Act, increasing administrative burdens.
• There was variation in the quality and amount of training received about the Act by staff, and some received no training.
• There is evidence of increased partnership working between third sector organisations.

There was consensus that the new homelessness framework introduced by the Act had positive impacts. It helped to change the culture of local authorities, working towards a more person-centred approach to tackling homelessness. The number of Priority Need households had reduced since the pre-2015 system, and many households threatened with evictions had been prevented.

Read the full report for more details and recommendations.