Reforming homelessness legislation in Wales
Dr Pete Mackie’s research into Welsh homelessness legislation led to the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, and has informed policy debates in Scotland, Canada, and Australia.
When Dr Pete Mackie was given the job of researching homelessness legislation in Wales, he knew it was a “once in a generation opportunity.”
In the subsequent months, he led a team of five people to carry out a full review.
What followed was a large-scale mixed methods review which engaged widely with the homelessness sector, and was the most significant analysis of Wales’s homelessness legislation in more than thirty years.
Research methods to assess the current legislation included collating and analysing unique case-level administrative data on local authority homelessness assistance in Wales, as well as in-depth interviews with people who were working to provide support to those in need. The research also took Welsh Government representatives across the country to workshops with people from all parts of the sector.
Dr Mackie’s research showed that homelessness legislation in Wales, largely unchanged since 1977, was no longer fit for purpose, as it only required local authorities to assist a minority of homeless people.
The review recommended a universal right to earlier, prevention-focused services with “a new duty for local authorities to take all reasonable steps to achieve a suitable housing solution for all households which are homeless or threatened with homelessness.”
Dr Mackie’s research findings were used in Welsh Government’s 2012 White Paper ‘Homes for Wales’. The subsequent Housing (Wales) Act – passed in 2014 and commenced in 2015 – was described by Welsh Government as “the most fundamental reform to homelessness legislation in over 30 years.”