Almost £1m to support ‘ask and act’ projects ahead of implementation of new legislation

Projects helping to prevent homelessness across Scotland will continue until the end of this financial year following additional Scottish Government funding of £945,000.

The Homelessness Prevention Pilots test approaches to early intervention and prevention. This fund will help organisations deliver ‘ask and act’ measures – new duties proposed in the Housing (Scotland) Bill that require public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation early – and take action to prevent homelessness before it happens.

The extra funding is in addition to £4 million announced for the pilots in August last year and the extension will help maintain prevention capacity while final evaluation findings are completed and considered.

Social Justice and Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville will visit an ‘ask and act’ pilot project in Edinburgh’s Wester Hailes today. Crisis, which is a partner in the project, has also published a report setting out what successful prevention looks like and how to get there.

Ms Somerville said: “Preventing homelessness before it happens is one of the most important steps we can take to improve people’s lives.

“The work being carried out through these pilots is helping us understand how services can work together to identify risk earlier, intervene sooner and provide the support people need to stay in their homes and that is why I am pleased to confirm funding to extend them until March.

“This extension will ensure that valuable learning continues, that specialist expertise is retained, and that partners are supported as we prepare for the implementation of Scotland’s new homelessness prevention duties.

“Our aim is clear: to shift from managing homelessness crises to preventing them in the first place. We are investing more than £213 million this year – partly through the local government settlement – on homelessness measures aimed at delivering better outcomes for individuals, families and communities across Scotland.

“We have a shared ambition with Crisis to end homelessness, it is helpful to see the Changing Course report it has published today, which estimates the costs and the benefits of our new homelessness prevention duties.”

Maeve McGoldrick, Head of Policy at Crisis Scotland said: “Crisis Scotland genuinely welcomes today’s announcement as a strong message that preventing homelessness is a top priority for government.

“The prevention pilots show what is possible when services step in early, and from our frontline experience in Wester Hailes we have seen people keep their home when they would otherwise have been pushed towards homelessness.

“Extending the funding for the next few months provides much needed continuity to all services involved in this innovative work. Importantly, it also allows time to plan for the important next stage: scaling up the learning and best practice across Scotland, in time for national commencement in 2028.”

Scottish charity Right There has welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to extend funding for homelessness prevention pilots but highlights that early intervention and prevention must become the norm when dealing with homelessness. 

Janet Haugh, CEO of Right There said: “Today’s funding announcement is a very positive signal that the Scottish Government is taking prevention seriously when it comes to homelessness, and while we support any measure to address homelessness in a preventative manner we know that housing is not the sole cause of the problem.

“We need to move towards a more holistic approach that addresses issues such as poverty, mental health, addiction, and family breakdown which all contribute to people losing their homes, if we are serious about ending homelessness for good.”

The Scottish Government has today announced almost £1m to extend pilot projects to help organisations deliver ‘act and ask’ measures brought in under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2026 once the legislation is implemented. 

The measures will impose duties requiring public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation with the aim of being able to take action before homelessness occurs. 

Janet Haugh added: “As a nation we are very good at dealing with crises but not so good at putting measures in place to prevent them in the first place.

“We welcome the extension to fund ‘ask and act’ pilots and we hope this will be part of a long term preventative strategy which will address the root causes of homelessness and signal a move away from jumping from one crisis to the next.” 

Ask and act measures are expected to commence nationally in 2028. 

Burnham confident every rough sleeper will have route off the street by Christmas as funding doubles

• Prime Minister sets out confidence that everyone sleeping rough will be offered route off the street before Christmas, backed by a further £432 million to sustain support beyond this winter
• New funding to be outlined funding to be confirmed at the Budget on Wednesday, taking total investment behind the Prime Minister’s commitment to £874 million 
• First-ever Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street brings together businesses, charities and local leaders to mobilise action, with major organisations pledging homes, jobs and practical support 

The Prime Minister yesterday set out his confidence that everyone sleeping rough will be offered a route off the street or wider support before Christmas, as he announced a further £432 million to help deliver the ambition and sustain support for years to come. 

The additional funding, to be set out at the Budget later this week, reflects the Prime Minister’s determination to make tackling rough sleeping a national priority. It will extend support beyond March 2027 and through to the end of this Parliament, taking total investment behind his commitment to £874 million. 

It marks the next stage of the pledge the Prime Minister made on his first day in Downing Street: to stop accepting rough sleeping as a fact of life and unite the country behind a mission to end it. 

Urgent action is already under way, with specialist outreach teams and new bedspaces operating in Coventry, and further provision being rolled out in places including Plymouth and Camden over the coming weeks. Backed by the initial £442 million, the programme is focused on ensuring everyone who needs it is offered a route off the streets before Christmas. 

Yesterday’s additional investment will ensure that support does not end when winter does, providing continuity for frontline services and helping people move into settled accommodation and rebuild their lives. 

But government cannot end rough sleeping alone. That is why the Prime Minister hosted the first-ever Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street, bringing together businesses, charities, housing providers and local leaders to mobilise the resources, expertise and commitment needed to deliver lasting change. 

Organisations attending the summit are making significant new commitments.

The National Housing Federation will work with housing associations to identify at least 2,000 potential homes and bedspaces, including empty properties that could be brought back into use. Virgin Media O2 will provide practical digital support to frontline organisations, while L’Oréal Group will launch a pioneering Social Salon partnership with St Mungo’s and Haircuts4Homeless. 

Together, these commitments will help people access not just a safe place to stay, but the homes, employment opportunities and support they need to build a more secure future. 

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:  “Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life. It’s a thing governments either choose to accept or don’t.  

“Well I don’t accept it. That’s why we’re doubling funding so that people aren’t just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this Parliament too.   

“But we can’t do it alone. If we’re going to end rough sleeping, we need every part of society behind us on this. So today we’re bringing together businesses, charities and local leaders in Downing Street to make sure this is a solution that lasts.”  

Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner said: “This is a big ambition – we know that. But we will not back down from making sure everyone has the offer of a route off the streets this Christmas.

“This summit is about bringing every part of society together behind that mission. Ending homelessness is not only a moral imperative – it will make our communities and our country better off.”  

“The first step is giving people a roof over their head and freedom from the nightly struggle to find somewhere safe to sleep. But Christmas is only the beginning and that’s why we will keep working together to tackle the root causes of homelessness and end rough sleeping for good.”  

Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey said: “No one should ever have to sleep rough, which is why we are doubling our investment to more people and providing a chance to break the cycle and end sleeping on the streets of our country – not just this Christmas, but for the years to come.”  

Monday’s Summit brought organisations from across society together to play their part, with new pledges including:  

• National Housing Federation working with housing associations to identify at least 2000 potential homes and bedspaces, including empty homes for people moving off the streets, working closely with local authorities.  
• Social Bite forming a new partnership with the government to expand its modular supported accommodation model, combining a settled home with intensive and community-based support.   
• Salvation Army working with their housing association Salvation Army Homes and public-sector partners to develop social housing, modular accommodation and move-on options, including provision for people with complex needs for whom mainstream accommodation may not be suitable.  
• UnLtd / Key Fund partnering with government to help social ventures create sustainable jobs for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.  
• Virgin Media O2 providing new support around devices, data and connectivity, in partnership with charity Refuge, helping women and their children affected by domestic abuse and experiencing homelessness stay connected to services and support.  
• IKEA combining direct funding, advocacy, employment programmes, community partnerships, and customer and public awareness-raising campaigns to tackle both the immediate impacts and underlying causes of homelessness.  
• L’Oreal Group launching an innovative ‘Social Salon’ partnership in the UK with St Mungo’s andHaircuts4Homeless, supporting rough sleepers with wellbeing provision.  
• Morrisons Foundation pledging to launch the Good Food Fund, providing £500,000 in grants to support communities to tackle food insecurity where it hits hardest, including supporting charities providing relief to people who are sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness, in support of the Prime Minister’s drive.   
• ReGenerate launching a partnership with Liverpool City Region, in coordination with the Liverpool Mayor’s new Homelessness Taskforce, to find ways in which businesses can do even more to tackle homelessness such as through driving pathways into employment across the region  
• Comic Relief committing further resources to tackle homelessness and housing insecurity, helping to raise public support and awareness in 2027.  
• Landsec offering access to its screens at Piccadilly and others across its retail portfolio to amplify homelessness charities and causes nationwide.   
• The Faith and Homelessness Collective, mobilising action across a group of 100+ church leaders and leaders of faith-inspired homelessness and housing organisations to support the PM’s instruction to offer everyone a route off the streets this winter and prevention in the long-term.  
• Over 30 organisations and investors from the impact economy – representing billions of pounds – signalling support to the PM’s drive and working with Government to bring more investment into move-on homes, support the organisations that help people stay housed, open up jobs and training, and put more money into prevention.  
• A coalition of philanthropic funders signalling their commitment to millions of pounds of investment into preventing homelessness, including a £10 million commitment from Julia Rausing Trust, and Henry Smith Foundation providing £500,000 of match funding with Birmingham City Council, to support Greater Change in providing relational support to rough sleepers in the city.