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HOMELESSNESS
AN ACTION PLAN FOR PREVENTION AND EFFECTIVE RESPONSE
REPORT FROM THE HOMELESSNESS TASK FORCE TO SCOTTISH MINISTERS

Appendix A

Membership of the Homelessness Task Force

Appendix B

Definition of Homelessness

We identified a range of housing situations that defined the meaning of homelessness for the purposes of our work. This definition embraces the following categories¹, which are not mutually exclusive, but all have been specified in the interests of clarity.

1. Persons defined in current legislation as homeless persons and persons threatened with homelessness — i.e. those:-

• without any accommodation in which they can live with their families.
• who can't gain access to their accommodation or would risk domestic violence by living there.
• whose accommodation is "unreasonable"; or is overcrowded and a danger to health.
• whose accommodation is a caravan or boat and they have nowhere to park it.

2. Those persons experiencing one or more of the following situations, even if these situations are not covered by the legislation:-

• Roofless: Those persons without shelter of any kind. This includes people who are sleeping rough, victims of fire and flood, and newly-arrived immigrants².
• Houseless: Those persons living in emergency and temporary accommodation provided for homeless people. Examples of such accommodation are night shelters, hostels and refuges.
• Households residing in accommodation, such as Bed & Breakfast premises, which is unsuitable as long-stay accommodation because they have no where else to stay.
• Those persons staying in institutions only because they have nowhere else to stay.
• Insecure accommodation: Those persons in accommodation that is insecure in reality rather than simply, or necessarily, held on an impermanent tenure. This group includes:-

• tenants or owner-occupiers likely to be evicted (whether lawfully or unlawfully).
• persons with no legal rights or permission to remain in accommodation, such as squatters or young people asked to leave the family home.
• persons with only a short-term permission to stay, such as those moving around friends' and relatives' houses with no stable base.

• Involuntary Sharing of Housing in Unreasonable Circumstances: Those persons who are involuntarily sharing accommodation with another household on a long-term basis in housing circumstances deemed to be unreasonable.

Appendix C

HOMELESSNESS TASK FORCE RESEARCH PROGRAMME

The Task Force research programme comprised thirteen projects, with two main streams of work. The first stream focused on gaps in our understanding of the nature, scope and scale of homelessness. The second stream examined a range of models and approaches to help establish what works in preventing or responding to homelessness. The projects undertaken were:

Understanding homelessness:

• a quantitative analysis of ‘structural’ trends and their impact on homelessness;
• a profile of homelessness in Scotland, based on further analysis of HL1 data;
• a review of evidence on people’s ‘pathways’ into and through homelessness;
• a study of ‘routes out’ of homelessness; and
• a study of repeat homelessness applicants to local authorities.

‘What works’:

• good practice towards homeless drug users;
• hostels for homeless people in the future;
• good practice in joint working on homelessness;
• the role of housing management in homelessness prevention;
• the role of family mediation in homelessness prevention;
• models of intermediate accommodation;
• the lifeskills of homeless people; and
• a review of the eligibility criteria under the homeless persons legislation.

A summary of the findings and conclusions of the Task Force research programme is contained in a separate document accompanying this report.

Appendix D

Number of households applying to local authorities under the homelessness legislation

April 1989 to March 2000

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