The Housing Corporation has made tackling homelessness a priority. We want to achieve a step change in how housing associations respond to homelessness so that communities and neighbourhoods are sustainable in the longer term. 

Local authorities have a duty to secure accommodation for people who are homeless through no fault of their own and fall within a priority need group. They cannot to do this without the full support of the housing association sector.  Associations in turn have a legal duty to co-operate with local authorities to offer accommodation under local authority allocation schemes and to help them carry out their statutory functions under the homelessness legislation.  These duties are reinforced by the Corporation’s Regulatory Code.

The Corporation published its Tackling Homelessness Strategy in November 2006.  Our  strategy sets out how the Corporation can help allivate homelessness and contribute to the Government's target of halving the number of households in temporary accommodation by 2010.  An action plan showing how the strategy will be implemented is now also available.

The Corporation has also developed a new tool for sharing information about applications for re-housing. The Housing Information Sharing Protocol provides a comprehensive and detailed framework for housing professionals to develop an information base for an effective allocation process and will assist staff in managing tenancies effectively.

It is aimed at the range of agencies including housing associations and local authorities that nominate households for re-housing, and landlords that house these households. Model protocol agreement for information exchange and housing benefit liaison