Homelessness

The term “homelessness” refers to people that; find themselves having to ‘sleep rough ‘; are housed in temporary accommodation; are at risk of losing their home; are in unsuitable accommodation; or cannot afford to remain in their current home.

The 1996 Housing Act defines a person as homeless if:

• They have no accommodation available in the UK or abroad
• They have no legal right to occupy accommodation.
• It is unreasonable to continue to occupy their accommodation
• They are at risk of violence or domestic abuse
• They are unable to secure entry to their accommodation
• They live in a moveable structure but have no place to put it (Source: Shelter)

There is a wealth of research, guidance and data on homelessness that can be used to inform commissioning and strategies.  Significant data is collected by Local housing authorities from individuals who present to them as having a housing need.  This includes people who are experiencing homeless or threatened with homelessness.  This data is published by MHCLG.

People can become homeless for lots of different reasons.  These may include, a lack of affordable housing, increasing housing and living costs and life events such as relationship breakdown, losing a job, mental and physical health problems.  It can also be the result of many complicated and influencing factors. Local housing authorities collect data on the reasons individuals are experiencing homelessness.

Homelessness can often follow critical transitions such as leaving prison, exiting the armed forces, fleeing domestic abuse or leaving care. These pathways reflect deep systemic vulnerabilities, where individuals face disrupted support networks, trauma, and barriers to stable housing. The Homelessness Code of Guidance, written by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, recognises these groups as potentially having a priority need under the ‘housing duty’ due to their heightened vulnerability.

Homelessness is both a result and a driver of health inequality. Rooted in interlinked factors such as poverty, lack of affordable housing, and life disruptions such as job loss or a decline in mental health. The combination of these factors leaves individuals facing barriers to healthcare access and exposed to disproportionately poor health outcomes. A recent audit found that 41% of individuals experiencing homelessness reported a long-term physical problem and 45% had a diagnosed mental problem. Source: LGA. The average age of death for a homeless male is 47 compared to 77 in the general population and for women is 43 compared to 80 (Source: Crisis).

People experiencing homelessness face many barriers to accessing and engaging with preventive, primary care and social care services which can mean that their health problems remain untreated until they become very severe and complex.  These barriers include stigma and discrimination; lack of trusted due to previous experiences; siloed and rigid appointment services; strict eligibility criteria; and lack of information sharing and appropriate communication.  NICE outline that people experiencing homelessness use more acute hospital services and emergency care than the general population. When admitted to a hospital, the length of hospital stay is usually much longer because of multiple unmet needs.

NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 framework recognises the barriers to accessing healthcare and subsequent health inequalities people experiencing homelessness face by naming homelessness as an inclusion health group within the “PLUS” category.  Addressing homelessness is essential to narrowing the health inequality gap—and Core20PLUS5 offers a practical lens for targeted, compassionate action.

In 2022, Homeless Link undertook a homeless health needs audit.  The audit represents the needs of nearly 3,000 individuals.  The findings were:

• People experiencing homelessness suffer from worse physical and mental health than the general population.
• 63% of respondents reported they had a long-term illness, disability or infirmity.
• The number of people with a mental health diagnosis has increased substantially from 45% in 2014 to 82% in the 2018 – 2021 cohort of respondents.
• 45% of respondents reported they are self-medicating with drugs or alcohol to help cope with their mental health.
• 48% of respondents have used A&E services in the last year; three times higher than the general population.
• Between 2018 – 2021 a total of 38% of respondents had been admitted to hospital in the 12 months before participating in a Homeless Health Needs Audit. The most common reason for hospital admission is related to a physical health condition (37%), and 28% is related to a mental health condition. self-harm or attempted suicide
• For those who had been admitted to hospital nearly a quarter (24%) had been discharged to the streets
• Nutrition also presents itself as a big challenge with a third of respondents reporting that on average they eat only one more meal a day.

Experience of trauma and childhood adversity are also common in people experiencing homelessness, and the prevalence of people who are neuroatypical or have a brain injury are higher than in the general population (NICE guidance).

Research shows homeless people experience some of the highest rates of loneliness and isolation in the UK. Feeling left out, unheard, unrepresented is compounded by a lack of companionship that many take for granted, making it that much harder to escape homelessness and address support needs (Source: Crisis).  People experiencing homelessness feel a pervading sense of rejection by those not experiencing homelessness. Precarious connections with other homeless people can become the only form of social contact, which can be both supportive but also troubling. Many homeless people do not want to admit their situation to friends or family, colleagues or school friends, and believe their secret isolates them from others (Source: WaveLength).

People who are threatened with homelessness or feel unstably housed also experience adverse effects on their health.  The stability and security of housing relates to the extent to which people have control over how long they live in their homes, and how secure they feel. Living in insecure accommodation can deeply impact health and wellbeing of residents as the threat of homelessness weighs heavy on residents.  Housing instability is a stressor that harms health, while frequent relocation undermines and weakens engagement with health services as well as the friendships and relationships that make a community.

Housing security has a robust relationship to housing affordability – the ability of a household to manage mortgage or rent payments. Housing payment problems and imminent eviction or repossession are considerably costly to psychological wellbeing, with the effects being larger for homeowners who have made larger financial and emotional investments in their home than renters. Housing tenure matters because private renters have less legal protection against eviction than social renters or mortgage holders. The ending of private sector tenancies correlates with homelessness (Source: The Health Foundation).

 Other evidence shows:

• A recent audit found that 41% of people experiencing homelessness reported a long-term physical issue and 45% had a diagnosed mental health issue. A recent audit found that 41% of homeless people reported a long-term physical issue and 45% had a diagnosed mental health issue, respectively in the general population. (Source: LGA)
• People experiencing homelessness have a much higher risk of death from drug related poisoning, suicide and alcohol-specific than the general population (Office for National Statistics 2019).
• People sleeping on the street are 17 times more likely to be a victim of violence (Source: Housing Justice). More than one in three people sleeping rough have been hit, kicked, or experienced some sort of violence whilst homeless.
• Homeless people are nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population (Source: Crisis)
• Homeless children have higher rates of health problems, and their development can be affected (Source: LGA)
• 51% of young homeless people have been excluded from school and 57% are not in education or employment (Source: LGA)

• The Housing Act 1996 (as amended) Part 7, is the legislation determining responses to homelessness, and includes:
  • principal criteria for determining which duties a local authority owes to a homeless applicant
  • the duties to inquire into an application
  • when and how an applicant should be notified of a decision
  • main accommodation duties and how they can be discharged
  • how a decision can be challenged.
• The Homelessness Act 2002 requires local authorities to regularly review the levels (and predicted future levels) of homelessness in each authority’s area; formulate a homelessness strategy.
• The Homelessness Reduction Act 2018 granted legal duties to local authorities so every person, either homeless or at risk of homelessness, will have access to assistance irrespective of their priority need status, if they are eligible for assistance. With a focus on prevention, funding with a Homelessness Prevention Grant, the Act places additional duties on local housing authorities to prevent and relieve homelessness by providing earlier assessment and assistance and becoming proactive rather than reactive to a person’s homeless crisis.
• The Health and Social Care Act 2012 introduced duties on NHS bodies to reduce health inequalities. Local governments have a huge role to play in tackling health inequalities, which can be identified as unjust, but avoidable differences in health outcomes across communities. The duties placed on a local government, as a result, can range from service delivery to strategic planning and everything in between that allows a local government to tackle health inequalities in the medium to long term.
• ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’ is the updated cross Government strategy released in 2022, to specify the wide-ranging causes, impacts, and solutions to homelessness, backed with £2billion of funding. The strategy is the Government’s pledge to end rough sleeping for good with actions such as Rough Sleeper Initiatives, Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, and a Rough Sleeper Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant. The strategy advocates a whole system approach. A new cross government strategy is due to be published in 2025.
• Equality Act 2010 protects individuals from the risk of discrimination, using the nine protected characteristics as a foundation framework – age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. The local authority must show they are reducing inequalities when accessing services, including healthcare for homeless people.
• The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 provides for victims who have suffered domestic The Act includes a duty for local authorities to provide support with safe accommodation.
• The Preventing Domestic Abuse Strategy sets out a multi-agency response to support victims of domestic abuse across Lincolnshire.
• The Care Act 2014 details a framework in which agencies collaborate to protect children, young adults, and people with care and support needs. This covers the following courses of action:
• Assessment of care and support needs – The local authority must carry out an assessment if a person appears to have care and support needs, regardless of their nature or level. They must then decide whether the person’s needs are eligible to be met when judged against the national eligibility criteria and whether there is a duty to meet them.
• Safeguarding enquiries – The local authority must make enquiries (or cause enquiries to be made) where an adult with care and support needs is experiencing or at risk of abuse and neglect and, because of their care and support needs, is unable to protect themselves. The purpose is to determine whether any action should be taken to help protect the person, and, if so, what and by whom.
• Homes for Independence is one of seven priorities in Lincolnshire’sJoint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. To implement the Priority Deliver Plan, the Health and Wellbeing Board has established a Housing Health and Ageing Well Delivery Group (HHAWDG).
• Implementing the HHAWDG’s Lincolnshire Homes for Independence blueprint and associated delivery plan will enable people with care and support needs, including the homeless, to live independently, stay connected, and have greater choice in where and how they live.
• The Lincolnshire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy reflects the government requirement for cross-agency collaboration. The purpose of this strategy is to create a coordinated, county-wide approach to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping. The strategy unites Lincolnshire’s 7 district councils, the county council, health professionals and the voluntary sector to work towards a better future for Lincolnshire. Some of their key objectives as a collective are:
• To prevent homelessness in a community before it occurs, through early intervention and support. This could be through supporting someone to manage their finances better or supporting someone to find a job.
• To reduce rough sleeping by increasing access to specialist accommodation.
• To ensure that there is an adequate supply of housing in local areas, considering that demand may differ across different areas of Lincolnshire.
• To promote partnership working across agencies to address complex issues of homelessness.
• To support tenancy sustainment to ensure that repetitive homelessness is kept as low as possible.

Lincolnshire is split into 7 district housing authorities. The characteristics and challenges affecting housing security and homelessness differ across the county:

• Lincoln is a university city where the number of students affects the availability of accommodation. Rent is comparatively high due to availability, desirability, and competition with the tourist market visiting an historic city. A high level of service and accommodation provision is available, and many homeless people move to access The extra burden on services creates issues of access. Lincoln City has the second highest number of formally registered rough sleepers of all Lincolnshire districts with 21. The rough sleeper rate in Lincoln City per 100,000 is 20.3, significantly higher than the rough sleeping rate of 7.9 per 100,000 people in the rest of the East Midlands.
• Boston borough comprises the main market town and 18 rural parishes. Employment in the agricultural sector has meant Boston has one of the highest levels of inward migration in the country, although this has recently slowed. Rapid population growth has pressurized services and housing availability resulting in high levels of poor-quality accommodation with rents that are disproportionately high compared to low wages. Boston has recently seen an increase in requests for help from many people who have no recourse to public funds. Boston has made significant progress towards cutting social housing waiting lists. In 2015, the figure was 33.8 per 1000 people. In 2024, this figure stands at less than half with 16.5, now below the East Midlands average of 17.4. Boston’s rough sleeper rate per 100,000 is also particularly high, standing at 23.8 per 100,000 people. This is significantly higher than East Midlands rough sleeper rate of 7.9. When compared to the rest of Lincolnshire, Boston also has a particularly high amount of these rough sleepers that aren’t UK nationals, with 65% being British. The average across Lincolnshire stands at 78%.
• South Holland also has a high proportion of agricultural employment and high numbers of migrant Wages are considered low – making affordability of accommodation a challenge for many. Regardless of an increase in housing development, accommodation is still unaffordable for those in need, and this has increased rough sleeping. Social housing waiting lists in South Holland have seen a sharp increase in recent years, rising from 401 households in 2015 to 780 households in 2024. This means that South Holland has seen the highest percentage increase out of all of Lincolnshire’s districts in the allotted period, with 95%.
• East Lindsey is coastal and rural, presenting challenges of seasonal employment and access to services. The coastal towns of Skegness and Mablethorpe have increased numbers of people sleeping rough during the summer The area is appealing to the elderly population, which presents challenges finding suitably adapted accommodation. When glancing at the data, East Lindsey has 17 registered rough sleepers. However, when comparing East Lindsey’s larger population to Lincolnshire’s other districts, the number of registered rough sleepers (11.7 per 100,000) is proportionate to its larger population size.Of these registered rough sleepers, all of them are UK nationals.
• North Kesteven is popular with developers for new housing and new business parks attract business owners. This has impacted the affordability of housing. North Kesteven has one of the lowest rates of rough sleeping and has seen an increase in economic activity over recent years. Sleaford has lower house prices compared to other Lincolnshire districts, but fewer accessible services. Social housing waiting lists in North Kesteven are particularly high and rose from 1611 (14.5 per 1000 households) in 2015 to 2736 (22.6 per 1000 households) in 2024. This represents the highest numerical increase of households (1125) on the social housing waiting list compared to the other districts. The number of registered rough sleepers in the district is also significantly higher than the East Midlands average,
• West Lindsey is a largely rural district of Lincolnshire, which limits access to housing, public transport and support services. West Lindsey is a diverse district comprising of a market town with high levels of deprivation and affluent villages. West Lindsey district council experiences a high level of people presenting as having a housing need. The rate per 1000 households on the social housing waiting lists in West Lindsey is high compared to other areas. In 2024, this figure rose from 1789 (19.6 per 1000 households) to 2458 (25.1 per 1000 households). West Lindsey therefore has the highest social housing waiting list rate per 1000 people out of all of Lincolnshire’s districts.
• South Kesteven is also a diverse district that has a shortage of affordable housing in the area. Stamford is a particularly unaffordable area, due to its desirability. desire for people to live there. There are 8 registered rough sleepers (5.5 per 100,000). The number of households on the social housing waiting list has significantly reduced since 2015 from 2914 (21.1 per 1000 households) to 931 (6.4 per 1000 households) in 2024.  

Local housing authorities have a duty to collect data from individuals who present to them as having a housing need (including experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness) and submit this to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government quarterly.  This data is referred to as H-CLIC data.  The data is aggregated and published here:   Tables on homelessness – GOV.UK 

Filters allow the data to be viewed per housing authority.  The data includes:

• Total number of people who are presenting to housing authorities who are assessed
• Total numbers owed a duty (by duty)
• Main activity that resulted in accommodation being secured
• Number of households in temporary accommodation and type of temporary accommodation
• reason for threat or homelessness,
• demographic data of the person presenting as homeless or at risk of homelessness,
• support needs of applicant (by duty),
• numbers of households whose housing need has been resolved; and more.

All of Lincolnshire’s housing authorities report an increase in the number of people that are approaching them for help and the number of people with complex and/or multiple needs, which may include mental and physical ill-health and substance misuse issues.

District housing authorities are also responsible for collecting data on the numbers of people estimated to be sleeping rough in Lincolnshire. This is published in dashboards here: Dashboards on rough sleeping – GOV.UK.  The data includes:

• Estimated number of people rough sleeping on one night – snapshot
• Number of people sleeping rough in the month
• Number & % of people rough sleeping who had moved into accommodation by the end of the month
• Number of people rough sleeping during the month who are new to rough sleeping
• Number & % of people estimated to be rough sleeping long term
• Number of people returning to rough sleeping after previously moving into settled accommodation

Numbers of people rough sleeping fluctuates the most prevalent areas are Lincoln (21 people or 20.3 per 100,000 people) Boston (17 people or 23.8 per 100,000 people) and South Holland (24 people or 24.5 per 100,000 people).  For comparison, the rate per 100,000 people in the East Midland is 7.9, with 393 people recognised in total.

In 2019 Development Plus undertook research commissioned by City of Lincoln Council.  The research aimed to tell the stories of people who were sleeping rough and/or causing ASB in the city.  The research project seeks to identify:

• ‘Circumstances that led to that individual’s current situation
• What would they want out of a person-centred project?
• What services do they already access?
• What services don’t they access and reason why (e.g. barred/existing client history etc)
• What historic services have they accessed in the past (positive ones may no longer be available)
• What are their aims and aspirations for the future, and how do they think they can achieve these?
• Do they have a fixed abode? If so, why aren’t you using it? What would encourage you to use it? If enforcement was part of an ultimatum, how would this make them feel? (They may welcome it; prison may provide an element of safety/stability for a brief moment of time’.

The research can be found here:  developmentplus_homelessness_report_RGB.pdf

Lincolnshire’s seven district councils are the local housing authorities and have statutory duties regarding homelessness, housing advice, allocations of social housing, planning, and new housing provision.

As evident from the needs identified above, tackling homelessness requires a partnership response to, firstly, prevent it occurring and, secondly, to reduce reoccurrences.  Multiagency work includes the Housing, Health and Ageing Well Delivery Group (HHAWDG) and the Homelessness Strategy for Lincolnshire. 

The Housing Health and Ageing Well Delivery Group (HHAWDG) is a subgroup of the Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Board. The HHAWDG is attended by representatives of; Lincolnshire County Council, all district councils, NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS Trusts, Lincolnshire Police, social housing providers, Third Sector, Department for Work and Pension (DWP), and more.  

Partners funding an increased capacity for the Public Health Intelligence allowing the Team to deliver a shared, housing intelligence role that will improve knowledge and understanding of the causes and effects of insecure homes and homelessness.

The Lincolnshire Homelessness Strategy Partnership monitors the workstreams reported in the homelessness and rough sleeping strategy. Action groups are aligned to each priority. A manager is in post to coordinate actions across the Lincolnshire Housing Partnership. Partnership working has resulted in tangible improvements to homelessness services and to the accessibility of universal services that homeless people, or people at risk of homelessness, may need to access.

Successes specific to the Lincolnshire Homeless Partnership include:

• Published a no recourse to Public Funds protocol, looking to tackle the challenges that immigration presents locally.
• Reviewed severe weather protocol and analysed what this means for those who are homeless.
• Expanded the strategy pathways to include women and offenders.
• Piloting a new countywide duty to referral with Probation.
• Review of care leavers and prison leavers protocol.
• Developing a protocol for hospital discharge as part of a larger piece of work.
• Conducted a Specialist Accommodation Review for complex needs cohort through the Housing Advisor Programme.
• Building relationships with registered providers and partners.

The voluntary, community and social enterprise sector plays an active role in Lincolnshire.  The support provided by charities and volunteers ranges from, community groups providing warm food on winter streets, to larger charities providing accommodation and specialist support.  Some examples include:

• In Lincoln, Nomad provides 22 units of accommodation; support; and meals.
• In Lincoln, the YMCA provides 170 units of accommodation, support and meals. The YMCA provides comprehensive support services such as life skills training, to empower individuals to rebuild their lives and enable long term stability. Youth development is a big part of YMCA also and they even have an Empowering Young Voices Board, which currently consists of 8 young people who are actively involved in YMCA Lincolnshire’s services.
• In Lincoln, Project Compass: Offers support to people experiencing homelessness and links them with services such as housing and substance misuse. They offer somewhere safe and warm for people to rest, phone use/charging station, clean clothes, appointment reminders and food bank referrals.
• In Boston, Centrepoint Boston provides drop-in support and guidance, food, showers, and furniture.
• In Skegness, The Storehouse provides a warm space available for people to attend the Community Friendship Group. This group supports people who are struggling both mentally and physically in the community and ensures they are not alone. The Storehouse also acts as a foodbank and is specifically for those in the community who receive either accommodation or floating support from Framework.

The Lincolnshire Migration Partnership oversees and co-ordinates activity across an increasing number of resettlement programmes, seeking to ensure that migrants arriving in the county are supported and accommodated. The partnership is alert to the risks of these individuals becoming homeless and has identified measures to ensure effective advice and support is provided.

In Lincolnshire, emphasis of this Migration Partnership is currently placed on the Ukraine response. The partnership comprises Lincolnshire County alongside the seven district councils, to ensure that local communities can provide safe and warm welcomes to migrants that arrive from Ukraine in Lincolnshire. Part of this looks at ‘host accommodations’ where local people can come forward to help if they have space in their current place of residency for Ukrainian migrants, usually for a certain amount of time. This is recognised nationally as the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ campaign.

Extensive public and stakeholder consultation informs the Lincolnshire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. Identified priorities included:

• More accommodation for single people
• More mental health support
• Support to finding solutions for those with no recourse to public funds
• Identifying the scale of hidden homelessness and ‘sofa surfing’
• Utilising funding on a countywide basis and pooling resources wherever possible

Regular consultation with stakeholders and service users, when applying for funding and commissioning services, ensures service provision meets the needs of those requiring assistance. Feedback from service users is gathered on all new initiatives.

The gaps and unmet needs are significant for the purpose of a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. This is pivotal in recognising and addressing the current weaknesses and how we can improve in the future.

Accommodation

• A shortage of all social housing means that most areas of Lincolnshire have long waiting lists and there is a high reliance on private landlords which is often unaffordable.
• There is a shortage of general accommodation for single people.
• There is a shortage of emergency access accommodation for people who are new to rough sleeping to get them housed early and prevent them becoming entrenched.
• Temporary accommodation pressures – across Lincolnshire’s districts, there is a limited availability of temporary housing. This, over time, has led to reliance on Bed and Breakfasts. For longer stays, these are often unsuitable and don’t fit people’s needs. For rural areas, this issue is worsened.
• Provision for single people with high support needs – There is a notable gap in accommodation for individuals who cannot cope with hostel environments due to trauma, mental health, or behavioural challenges. While providers like YMCA Lincolnshire offer supported housing, capacity is limited, and demand continues to exceed supply.
• Lack of move-on pathways – Individuals in temporary or supported accommodation face significant barriers to transitioning into stable housing. The shortage of affordable tenancies and tailored support undermines efforts to sustain progress and independence.
• Emergency accommodation during SWEP activation – Lincolnshire’s Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) is triggered during extreme weather, but emergency accommodation capacity is stretched during these periods. With the increasing frequency and severity of such events, the risk to life, for entrenched rough sleepers is growing.

Access to services

• Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (LPFT) recently identified a need for an assertive outreach model in their mental health provision to support people who are experiencing homelessness.
• Homelessness and NRPF (No Recourse to Public Funds) – there remains an urgent need for a coordinated national solution for individuals experiencing homelessness who are excluded from statutory safety nets due to immigration status. Local responses are inconsistent and often hinge on discretionary powers, placing considerable strain on local authorities and leaving many without viable routes to shelter or support.
• Multi-agency panel consistency – vulnerable adults requiring coordinated support, particularly those with complex needs, frequently encounter significant variation in how multi-agency panels operate. Barriers include divergent thresholds for engagement, inconsistent use of strengths-based frameworks, and a lack of mandated processes for escalation or review.
• Support for drug and alcohol misuse – gaps across the county in assertive outreach for people experiencing homelessness who are affected by substance misuse continue to limit recovery outcomes. Assertive outreach is only currently available in some districts and is funded through temporary grant funding.

Private Rented Sector

• A need to ensure access to safe and secure accommodation in this sector from social letting agencies; and to explore mechanisms for accreditation, safety checks and inspections.
• A need to know how many landlords are leaving the sector, and why, and what can be done to prevent this to secure an adequate supply of homes.
• A need to work with landlords to prevent evictions, and to provide debt and financial advice.
• There are some clear takeaways from the ONS Housing Price Tool. Evidence would suggest that in Lincolnshire, residents find it more affordable to buy houses here than in other counties and may be the reason why elderly tend to move here to retire. Lincolnshire’s average property price is £256,646, which is £120,570 below the UK average. The most expensive properties in Lincolnshire, on average, are found in South Kesteven and the cheapest, on average, are in Lincoln. For this reason, the private rental market is not as appealing in Lincolnshire compared to other counties in the UK, although it can depend on personal circumstances.

Health partnerships

• Closer working is needed with mental health services to gain better access to support for those with or without a diagnosis, and for a joint approach to those with a dual diagnosis of substance misuse and mental ill-health.
• A need for assertive support for people with mental health issues who struggle to engage with mainstream provision.
• A need for a greater geographical scope of locally-centered health services which are currently focused in and around Lincoln City.

Research

• A need for a robust evidence base outlining the state of housing in Lincolnshire.
• A need to map homeless provision in Lincolnshire, including eligibility.
• A need to know how many people become homeless due to untreated health conditions.
• A need for greater robust research on homelessness and adult care needs to include return on investment studies.

All the challenges above are highlighted in the Lincolnshire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. Opportunities to increase the provision of accommodation, to expand support services and develop homelessness initiatives will be progressed through partnership action groups. A partnership approach shows commitment to the Government’s vision that homelessness should be rare, brief, and non-recurring.

A wealth of research into the causes of homelessness, and more, can be found here:

• Crisis UK website,
• Action for Children’s website,
• Homeless Link website
• Shelter England’s website.