Welsh legislation on homelessness is bearing fruit,with local authorities helping more people who are not deemed to be in ‘precedence need’, and fewer remaining homelessCompared to the rest of the world UK nations have a very progressive approach to addressing homelessness. Local authorities in England, or Wales and Northern Ireland are required by law to offer housing to homeless people who are in “precedence need”: those with children or a meaningful vulnerability. But despite being comparatively progressive,legislation in these countries fails the many single homeless people who are not deemed to be in precedence need.
Except in Scotland, where the precedence need test has been abolished and nearly everyone is entitled to housing, and we essentially have an all-or-nothing system that expects people to wait until they are very vulnerable before getting any entitlement to befriend – a race to the bottom. While some councils provide services that prevent homelessness,there is no legal requirement to do so, creating a postcode lottery for homeless people.
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Source: theguardian.com