How technology can help local authorities tackle homelessness and rough sleeping

The Government has made ending rough sleeping a national priority. As part of that commitment, Prime Minister, Andy Burnham announced the next stage of that commitment: a £442 million package designed to ensure everyone who needs it has a route off the streets this winter, alongside practical support and more than 1,000 settled homes over the next three years. The programme will also bring together public, private, charity and community organisations through a national homelessness summit.

Key takeaways

• The Government has made ending rough sleeping a national priority.
• Providing a route off the streets requires more than emergency accommodation.
• Prevention, support, data and effective case management all have a role to play.
• Technology can help local authorities identify risk, manage cases and coordinate services.
• Connected systems can improve visibility across the journey from rough sleeping to secure accommodation.
• Technology is an enabler for homelessness services, not a replacement for housing or frontline support.

While emergency accommodation is an essential first step, ending rough sleeping is about much more than providing somewhere to sleep.

Sustainable outcomes require early intervention, effective case management, coordinated support services, reliable data and access to suitable long-term housing.

Local authorities, housing providers and support organisations are under growing pressure to prevent homelessness, as well as respond to it. That means identifying risk earlier, connecting services more effectively and supporting people on the path to secure accommodation.

Technology cannot solve the underlying causes of homelessness. However, it can help the organisations on the frontline deliver better services, make more informed decisions and manage growing demand more effectively.

Ending rough sleeping is often discussed as a housing challenge, but for local authorities it is also an operational challenge. Housing teams are balancing rising demand, increasing statutory responsibilities, limited housing supply and growing pressure on frontline services.

While the Government’s funding package provides important support, delivering the ambition will require organisations to identify risk earlier, coordinate interventions effectively and manage increasingly complex housing journeys.

This raises an important question: what do local authorities need to turn national ambition into tangible local outcomes?

Ending rough sleeping requires more than accommodation

Ending rough sleeping requires a combination of accommodation, support services, effective case management and long-term housing pathways.

Emergency accommodation helps address immediate need, but lasting outcomes depend on a coordinated approach that supports people throughout their housing journey.

The Government’s latest announcement reflects this reality. Alongside emergency accommodation, the programme includes housing support, health-related assistance and longer-term settled homes designed to help people build more stable futures.

In practice, homelessness prevention and rough sleeping services involve a much wider journey than many people realise:

Early intervention → Assessment → Outreach → Support → Temporary accommodation → Settled housing

Each stage requires different teams, different responsibilities and frequently different organisations. Housing officers, homelessness prevention teams, healthcare providers, support services, charities and local authority departments all play a role.

Delivering successful outcomes therefore depends not only on resources and housing supply, but also on the ability to coordinate services effectively across the entire pathway.

Why data matters in homelessness prevention

Good data does not prevent homelessness on its own. However, better information can help local authorities make better prevention decisions, prioritise resources effectively and support people earlier.

Housing teams are managing increasing caseloads and rising demand for support. To respond effectively, they need timely, accurate information that helps them understand trends, assess risk and manage interventions appropriately.

Accurate and accessible data can help organisations:

• Understand levels of demand
• Identify people at risk earlier
• Manage cases more effectively
• Prioritise limited resources
• Track statutory deadlines
• Coordinate support services
• Evidence outcomes and performance

Many local authorities continue to face challenges caused by fragmented systems, spreadsheets and manual processes. When information is duplicated or spread across multiple platforms, it becomes harder to build a complete picture of an individual’s circumstances, track activity across services and identify where support may be needed most. A more connected view of information can also give organisations greater confidence in the data used to prioritise support and allocate resources.

MRI has worked with local authorities and housing organisations for years to help address these challenges through better use of data and technology. As highlighted in MRI’s resource on The Importance of Data in Homelessness Reduction services can help organisations identify emerging risks earlier, improve collaboration between teams and make more informed decisions about prevention and support. This not only increases operational efficiency but can also help ensure that resources are directed where they will have the greatest impact.

Four ways technology can support the national homelessness response

Technology cannot solve homelessness on its own, but it can help organisations respond more effectively and intervene earlier when people are at risk.

Identify risk and enable earlier intervention

Preventing homelessness is generally more effective than responding once somebody reaches crisis point.

Early identification of risk gives organisations more opportunities to intervene before a person’s circumstances deteriorate. This is particularly important under the Duty to Refer framework, where public services and partner agencies play an important role in notifying housing authorities when someone may be at risk of homelessness.

Technology can support this process by enabling referrals, improving communication between agencies and creating clear audit trails for action.

MRI Alert, for example, is designed specifically to support Duty to Refer requirements by facilitating referrals and notifications between local authorities and partner agencies across England, Scotland and Wales. The platform helps organisations share information securely and consistently, supporting earlier intervention when people are identified as being at risk.

The objective is simple: help ensure concerns are identified and acted upon before a person reaches crisis point.

Manage homelessness cases and statutory duties

Managing homelessness applications involves significant complexity, with housing teams required to track assessments, statutory duties, prevention activities, relief duties, case outcomes and reporting requirements while ensuring compliance with the Homelessness Reduction Act. Without effective processes and visibility, increasing caseloads can place significant pressure on frontline teams.

MRI Homelessness Reduction was designed specifically to help organisations manage and monitor cases in accordance with the Homelessness Reduction Act. It provides visibility across cases, supports prioritisation of vulnerable individuals and helps teams manage statutory requirements more effectively.

The wider Housing Options platform brings together case information, reporting and workflow management in a single environment, helping officers monitor progress, meet statutory requirements and maintain visibility across growing caseloads.

An example of this is the Royal Borough of Greenwich which reported a 40% reduction in administrative time following the implementation of MRI Homelessness Reduction, allowing staff to focus more attention on service delivery.

Support rough sleepers from street to secure accommodation

Supporting somebody from life on the streets into secure accommodation is rarely a single event. It is a journey involving engagement, assessment, support planning and coordination between multiple services.

Outreach teams need accurate, up-to-date information to understand an individual’s circumstances, track engagement and coordinate support across housing, health and social care providers. They may also need to record locations, carry out assessments in the field, monitor service delivery and evidence outcomes over time.

MRI Rough Sleeper Pathways is designed to support this work from initial street-based engagement through to secure accommodation. Mobile access enables officers to capture and update information while working in the community, while integrated case management helps organisations maintain oversight across support pathways, monitor progress and coordinate interventions across multiple agencies.

By bringing together outreach activity, case management and reporting, housing teams can better understand what support is being delivered, track outcomes over time and maintain a clearer picture of an individual’s journey towards stable accommodation.

Manage temporary accommodation and housing allocation

Providing a route off the streets is an important milestone, but it is rarely the end of the journey. Housing teams must then manage temporary accommodation placements, monitor associated costs and support individuals as they move towards suitable long-term housing.

This creates additional operational pressures. Officers need visibility into placements, expenditure, resident movements and financial obligations while maintaining the quality of support provided to people who may still be experiencing significant instability.

When these processes are managed across spreadsheets or disconnected systems, administrative workload can increase and information can become harder to track.

MRI Temporary Accommodation Rent Accounting helps housing teams manage placements, monitor expenditure, track financial obligations and gain clarity over temporary accommodation costs. It also provides self-service functionality designed to improve communication and support engagement.

Once individuals are ready to move into more permanent housing, allocation processes become equally important.

MRI Allocations supports local authorities and housing providers in managing housing registers, advertising available properties and allocating homes in line with local policies. Applicant self-service capabilities can also help improve communication and transparency throughout the application process.

Combined with MRI Temporary Accommodation Rent Accounting, organisations can gain better visibility across both temporary and longer-term housing pathways. This helps housing teams manage placements, monitor expenditure and financial obligations, and support people as they move from temporary accommodation towards settled housing.

From disconnected services to a more joined-up homelessness response

One of the biggest challenges facing local authorities is that homelessness services often involve multiple systems, teams and external organisations.

Referral management, homelessness prevention, outreach activity, temporary accommodation and housing allocation can easily become fragmented if information is spread across different platforms.

MRI Housing Options brings together:

• Homelessness referrals
• Homelessness reduction
• Rough sleeper pathways
• Temporary accommodation
• Housing allocations
• Housing applications

Bringing these services together in a connected environment can help reduce fragmentation and give housing teams a clearer view of the entire housing pathway.

This supports a more connected journey:

Referral → Assessment → Prevention → Outreach → Temporary accommodation → Allocation → Settled accommodation

By connecting information and workflows across services, organisations can gain greater visibility, improve coordination, and reduce the administrative burden often associated with fragmented processes. The result is not simply greater efficiency, but stronger support for frontline teams and the people they serve.

Technology is an enabler, not the answer to homelessness

It is important to maintain perspective.

Technology alone cannot solve homelessness. It cannot address housing shortages, economic pressures, trauma, health inequalities, or the many other factors that can contribute to homelessness and rough sleeping.

Its value lies in helping organisations work more effectively within a challenging environment.

By improving visibility, supporting earlier intervention, enabling better case management and helping organisations coordinate services, technology can help frontline teams focus more of their time and resources on supporting people. As highlighted in the Improving Housing and Homelessness Outcomes resource, organisations report outcomes such as increased efficiency, improved engagement, reduced workload and greater confidence in compliance.

Conclusion

The Government’s commitment to end rough sleeping has placed renewed national focus on one of society’s most complex challenges. Backed by a £442 million package, immediate winter interventions and investment in longer-term housing, the ambition is clear.

Delivering that ambition, however, requires more than a single intervention. It requires prevention, support, effective local delivery, coordinated services, reliable information, and access to suitable housing.

Technology cannot solve the deeper societal issues that contribute to homelessness, but it can help housing organisations manage growing demand, make better use of resources and support people more effectively throughout the housing journey.

For organisations focused on improving homelessness prevention, rough sleeping services and housing pathways, MRI Housing Options provides a connected approach to managing the journey from referral through to settled accommodation.

To learn more about how MRI can support your homelessness prevention and housing management objectives, contact us to discuss your requirements.