The private rented sector (PRS) has long been recognised as a potential source of accommodation for homeless people, particularly single homeless people who are generally the lowest priority when it comes to allocating the scarce supply of social housing. Insufficient supply of permanent social housing and the overloading of temporary supported accommodation means that the homelessness sector has had to find ways of making the PRS a viable and attractive option for homeless people.
While the PRS is not the best solution for everyone – and there remains an urgent need for more social housing and supported forms of accommodation – Crisis' experience is that the PRS can be effectively opened up to provide sustainable ‘ordinary' housing for vulnerable and homeless people through the provision of good quality local services.
Crisis believes all Local Authorities should ensure that there is a PRS scheme in place for single and vulnerable homeless people. Furthermore, schemes must be properly resourced to provide a range of services to both landlords and clients based on the wealth of best practice that has been identified over the years. Central to achieving this goal is the proper staffing of schemes to ensure that the services provided meet the needs of both client groups and to provide ongoing support to avoid tenancy breakdown.
This website provides guidance and resources to assist in the development of good PRS access schemes which can be found in the
Good Practice and Resources section of the site.