Built for zero: Reducing temporary accommodation use in Calderdale

What went in

• The pilot was designed to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation (TA) in Calderdale, as well as reduce the council’s spend on TA.
• No additional funding was allocated; the project was resourced within existing budgets.
• Commitment from the team and partners was essential to the success of the project.
• The pilot began in July 2024.

What came out

• Reduction of number of individuals and households in temporary accommodation.
• Reduction of council spending on temporary accommodation.

Built for Zero is a community-based approach to ending homelessness in a local area, which originated in the US. It is being piloted in the UK by Crisis and uses information from local communities to build solutions that work for them.  Built for Zero is grounded in three key principles:

1. Homelessness is solvable - it’s a result of systemic failure, not individual shortcomings. 
2. You can’t solve a problem you can’t see - real-time, accurate data is critical. 
3. Homelessness is a systems issue - meaningful change requires a collective, coordinated response. 

Calderdale had very high numbers of households in temporary accommodation, with increased numbers of families and children in B&Bs. There was also a slow move on from temporary accommodation due to a lack of focus on the private rented sector. 

The surge in homelessness has been caused by systemic and ongoing problems. Asylum seekers are evicted from Home Office accommodation after gaining refugee status and, since mid-January, that notice period has been returned to 28 days after a temporary extension to 56 days.

By-name data

The Built for Zero team meets every Monday. They have a “by name” list of everyone experiencing homelessness, and try to gather as much data as they can on each person to understand the problems they face. The team meets twice weekly, with a clear focus on decision making, and discusses the focus list of around 10 people and what actions could be taken during the week to help that individual or family. Actions for the week are set on a Monday and must be completed by Friday. There is also an increased focus on the private rented sector, to support families and individuals to move on from TA.

Achieving real-time, person-specific data is a necessary step for driving toward functional zero. By-name data is a comprehensive source of information that accounts for every person in a community experiencing homelessness, updated in real time. Using information collected and shared with their consent, each person on the list has a file that includes their name, homeless history, health, and housing needs. The council recruited housing graduates with IT skills, after identifying the need for these skills within the team. To help digitise the service and improve efficiency, the graduates built an internal system to manage the data.

With this by-name list - updated continuously - the community is able to better match housing solutions with the needs of the individuals. At the population level, this information enables them to prioritise resources, test changes to their system, and understand whether their efforts are driving overall homelessness toward zero. 

The intense focus on a small cohort is supported by work with the NHS, other council departments, and the Department for Work and Pensions. This allows a holistic approach to consider issues outside of housing, such as mental health, addiction or benefits.

Built for Zero may not work for every local authority, and Calderdale acknowledge that the project is more successful due to having deep local knowledge of the relatively small community of about 400 people. 

The council is also working on prevention measures. A family with eight children were served with an eviction notice by their private landlord. The cost of housing the family in B&B accommodation would have been £43,000, but the council paid the landlord £500 to allow the family to stay another three months, until their social housing was ready. 

A Prevention Panel was created to RAG rate cases when households came into temporary accommodation. This enabled them to understand whether there could have been earlier intervention to prevent a household from needing temporary accommodation and it also identified any missed opportunities. This provided feedback to officers and any learning was shared.

To support frontline teams with the prevention focus, leadership was increased (using existing resources) to enable weekly case discussions and strengthen stronger decision making.

Since Calderdale council began working with Crisis on Built for Zero in July 2024, they have seen a 34 per cent reduction in the number of households in temporary accommodation, including a 37 per cent decrease in the number of children. The time that families spend in temporary accommodation has also significantly reduced.

This is despite a rise in the number of households in temporary accommodation across Yorkshire, which is up overall by 8 per cent from April to June 2024 to the same period in 2025. The figure in Calderdale was down by 24 per cent.

By September 2025, Calderdale had prevented potential spending on B&B accommodation by £2.18m – a reduction of 79 per cent.

• Better data - real-time data that is directly linked to something you are trying to change 
• Collective, synchronous decision-making 
• Snakes & Ladders - the data should be focused on what is accelerating progress and what is slowing it down - not business as usual
• Feedback loops - create as close to real-time as possible feedback loops so people can see the impact of their data-driven decisions 
• People - don’t lose people, but realise you serve them better when you make decisions based on the data (which doesn’t have to be clinical).

Going forward, there will be a greater focus on how accessing and utilise the private rented sector as well as a greater focus on prevention. The council have invested in a new prevention manager post to facilitate this.

Crisis - Built for Zero

Website: Built for Zero | Crisis UK | Together we will end homelessness 
Email: [email protected]

The Movement - Community Solutions