Homelessness prevention: business and regulatory impact assessment

Rationale for Government Intervention

Scotland already has strong rights for people experiencing homelessness. However too many people are forced to enter the homelessness system and experience the trauma of homelessness when it could have been prevented. Over the period 1 April to 30 September 2023, there were increases in the number of homelessness applications, households assessed as homeless, open homelessness applications and households in temporary accommodation compared to the same period in 2022.^[12]

Preventing homelessness from happening in the first place is the most effective way of ending homelessness. Strengthening our approach to prevention will help people avoid crisis situations that often have wider impacts, including on health, justice, education and employment outcomes.

There is a clear moral and economic case for taking action to prevent homelessness. We want to support people to avoid the disruption and indignity of experiencing it. On top of that, the costs of failing to intervene to prevent homelessness often accrue to the public sector, including in health and criminal justice services.^[13]

The overarching foundational principles of the PRG, mentioned earlier, are the same principles which have been adopted to inform the development of homelessness prevention duties. These can be summarised as:

• Prevention of homelessness should be a shared public responsibility
• Intervention to prevent homelessness should start as early as possible
• People facing homelessness should have choice in where they live and access to the same range of housing outcomes as members of the general public.