This week, we celebrated a major milestone – the Welsh Government published a draft new homelessness law.  This is huge news!

Crisis has been calling for changes to the law for some time because we know that the current law is not working. It locks people out of vital support and is slow to respond where people are at risk of losing their home.

But the Welsh Government’s draft new Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation Bill holds the potential to change this.

What does the new law say?

We're pleased to see that the draft law includes many of the key changes recommended by the Expert Review Panel, which Crisis was proud to convene.

This panel looked at how changes to the law could help towards ending homelessness. It included representatives from Local Authorities, housing associations, third sector and academia, and the panel consulted widely across the housing sector and beyond. At the heart of its work, the panel listened to the experiences and views of more than 300 people with lived experience of homelessness.

Some of the key changes recommended by the panel and included in the draft law are: 

• Getting people at risk of homelessness help much earlier – so that councils offer support when a person is at risk of becoming homeless within 6 months.
• Placing new duties on wider public services so that they work together to help people facing homelessness
• Setting out to end the current laws on priority need and intentionality which lock people out of critical support
• Introducing new powers to help local authorities secure social homes for those who need it most, including people experiencing homelessness
• Offering continued assistance where people who have experienced homelessness might otherwise be at risk of losing their new home
• Giving people who are experiencing homelessness more information and rights to challenge councils when they’re not getting the support they need
• Introducing Prevention, Support and Accommodation Plans for people experiencing homelessness
• And more!

While not all of the panel's recommendations made it into the draft law, it's great to see that such a high number of the key changes recommended are in there. We believe these changes could transform many lives. 

Why homelessness law in Wales must change

Homelessness has been rising in Wales faster than elsewhere in Britain.

Today, more than 11,000 people – including nearly 2,700 children – are living in temporary accommodation, often in unsuitable settings like B&Bs. The human cost of this is immeasurable – being without a stable place to call home is incredibly traumatic.

The current law is too slow to respond when people are placed at risk of homelessness. It doesn’t do enough to stop homelessness before it starts, and it leaves services in firefighting mode.

We know from our members that housing support can be difficult to navigate. Systems can leave people locked out of vital support, making it ever harder to build a life beyond homelessness.

That’s why the new draft law is so important. It’s a chance to shift the focus to prevention by helping people earlier, removing barriers to support, and ensuring services work together.

If the ambitious changes proposed this week make it through the Welsh Parliament’s seal of approval, these measures are an opportunity to break ground in homelessness prevention and to transform lives.

How did we get here?

Changing the law takes a long time and much work has gone in to reach this moment.

2021 The Welsh Government, with input from Crisis, published its action plan to end homelessness in Wales. This plan recognised that, alongside other actions such as building more affordable homes, the law has a significant role to play in making homelessness in Wales rare, brief and non-repeated.

2022 to 2023 Crisis co-ordinated an Expert Review Panel, which included representation from Local Authorities, housing associations, third sector and academics. It also consulted widely across the housing and homelessness sector and beyond. Crucially, the panel heard from over 300 people with lived experience of homelessness. It agreed recommendations on how changes to the law could help end homelessness.

2023 The Welsh Government published its white paper on homelessness. This set out its broad ideas for a new law... and it took onboard many of the recommendations from the panel!

2024 The Welsh Government sought views on its ideas for a new law. Crisis made sure the voices of our members with lived experience were heard.

This week! A draft law was published. While the Welsh Government has changed some of its thinking, Crisis is pleased that the draft law still includes a number of the key changes we have been calling for!

What happens next?

The news this week represents a significant leap forward in the journey towards ending homelessness in Wales and has the potential to be ground-breaking.

But a draft law is just that – a draft. There’s still a way to go before the changes become a reality.

Over the coming months, politicians from all parties at the Senedd will be reviewing the draft law and deciding whether or not to put it into action. They might also look to make changes to the draft law.

Our Wales policy team here at Crisis will be delving into the detail of the bill and helping to shape it so that it is as good as it can be. We’ll be looking to ensure that the voices of people with lived experience of homelessness continue to be heard.

And, crucially, we will be calling on politicians to ensure that vital changes such as those outlined above make it over the line.

Beyond this, we’ll also be working to ensure that new laws are put into practice effectively.

Stand with us!

As Crisis works on this new law, we’ll be keeping our supporters updated and calling on their help to make these much-needed changes a reality.

Are you with us? If you haven’t already, don't forget you can sign up for email updates from our campaigns team. 

Diolch.