Practical approaches to boosting the supply of affordable housing and tackling homelessness

Affordable housing

The LGA is committed to supporting the supply of more homes across all tenures. This call for evidence supports work looking into how local authorities are boosting supply of affordable housing, including social rent. 

We are seeking to identify different approaches that are being taken to maximise delivery in the context of current financial pressures in order to provide a resource toolkit for local authorities. While we are particularly interested in the development of homes for social rent, we will welcome case studies and evidence focussed on any form of affordable housing. 

We've spoken to a number of councils, who are both actively involved in delivery of affordable housing and those who are considering their options to increase supply, and both agree that a toolkit of case studies would be a useful resource to showcase the innovative approaches being taken across the country

The need for social housing has grown significantly in recent years, driven by rising housing costs, increasing demand, and a shortage of affordable homes. Councils play a critical role in addressing this issue but face numerous challenges, such as funding challenges and practical barriers. Despite these obstacles, some local authorities have found innovative ways to boost their social housing supply. 

Understanding how councils navigate these challenges, what best practices they demonstrate, and how housing officers can be better supported is essential to addressing the housing crisis and ensuring access to affordable, high-quality homes for those most in need. 

You can get involved by sending in case studies to showcase successful programmes and share best practice across the sector. We would like to hear about any innovative approaches you have developed to tackle some of the critical challenges local authorities are facing.

Specific areas of interest

• partnership working with, for example, other local authorities or private enterprise
• grant-funded programmes
• development of single-person homes
• programmes of acquisition
• strategies to better manage existing stock
• programmes of indirect delivery through partners
• delivery without a Housing Revenue Account (HRA)
• development of small or challenging sites.

We are also keen to receive evidence of some of the obstacles to delivering affordable housing to inform future areas of work.

Tackling homelessness

The Local Government Association is seeking examples of innovative local approaches to preventing and responding to homelessness. We want to hear from councils that have developed effective strategies, partnerships, and interventions that improve outcomes for individuals and families while managing financial pressures. 

We welcome case studies on a range of topics, but would be particularly interested in examples covering the following: 

Homelessness prevention 

• Successful interventions that have increased the number of preventions or reduced the number of households presenting to homelessness services.
• Funding homelessness prevention – using match funding or non-traditional funding sources to deliver system efficiencies and better-manage housing demands
• Approaches that have helped avoid costs to services while improving outcomes for at-risk households.
• Use of data analytics, predictive modelling, or proactive outreach to identify and support households most at risk of homelessness.
• Practical examples of using the Domestic Abuse Act to prevent homelessness, such as closer working with the police to use court orders that exclude perpetrators, facilitating like-for-like transfers, approaches which limit the need for victims to go through the statutory pathway. 

Private rented sector (PRS) solutions 

• Initiatives that enable access to the PRS and reduce evictions, such as tenancy sustainment schemes, rent deposit models, and rent guarantor schemes. 

Reducing the cost of temporary accommodation (TA) 

• Approaches to modelling long-term TA demand, costs, and the potential impacts of interventions.
• Strategies to increase the supply of high-quality, low-cost TA, including property acquisition, long leases, use of surplus land or meanwhile sites, technological solutions, and collaborative procurement with neighbouring councils.
• Working with social investors to develop cost-effective TA solutions.
• Strategies to reduce the unit costs of emergency housing, including shifting away from high-cost provision. 

Settled housing pathways 

• Innovative ways to establish move-on from TA, such as long-lease arrangements, "trainer tenancies," property "flipping" from TA to settled housing, and changes to allocations policies.
• Working with social investors to deliver settled housing options. 

Collaboration across services 

• Examples of cross-sector partnerships that have improved homelessness outcomes, such as embedding housing support in other services or co-commissioning pathways.
• Strengthening partnerships with health to reduce health inequalities through targeted homelessness prevention 

Regional collaboration 

• Case studies of councils working together to improve homelessness outcomes, including regional pathways, reciprocal agreements and protocols, and joint procurement to achieve economies of scale. 

Data-driven and digital innovation 

• Use of data-driven approaches, new technologies, or digital ways of working to improve homelessness prevention and service delivery. 

Supporting homelessness households 

• Providing support to improve households’ financial resilience or meet their wider support needs
• Working with businesses and employers (including councils) to target employment support pathways at individuals with experience of homelessness 

How to submit evidence?

To submit a case study, please download the case study guidance and send to [email protected]

We are also interested in evidence of the obstacles you have faced in completing programmes or securing funding. This will be used for internal purposes to inform the direction of future research and our lobbying positions. Please send this through to [email protected]