Rough sleeping portal

Welcome to the rough sleeping portal.The portal is an online gateway to information and good practice resources that will help you to end rough sleeping in your area, whether you work for a local authority or a frontline service.

The government’s first rough sleeping strategy ‘Coming in from the Cold’ succeeded in reducing rough sleeping by two thirds between 1998 and 2002.

Ten years later, the government has committed to reducing rough sleeping to as close to zero as possible by 2012. The strategy ‘No-one Left Out: communities ending rough sleeping’ was launched in November 2008.

"No-one should have to sleep rough in twenty-first century Britain. Our vision is to bring an end to rough sleeping once and for all." No One Left Out, HM Government

Ending rough sleeping will require government, commissioners and services to work together to stem the flow of new rough sleepers, and to provide the right help in the right place at the right time. By understanding the problem in your area and ensuring the right range of support, you can achieve real and sustainable year-on-year reductions in rough sleepers.

Using the rough sleeping portal

The portal structure has been designed to complement  Preventing Homelessness: A strategy health check . The health check is a self assessment toolkit for local authorities to evaluate their approach to ending rough sleeping. This portal provides access to further information and resources which can support the review and change processes. 

 Contents:

• The rough sleeping strategy: actions and champions a summary of the fifteen action points in the rough sleeping strategy, linked to examples of good practice; and the fifteen rough sleeping champions
• Strategy and partnerships to end rough sleeping: strategic and multiagency approaches that local authorities can take to end rough sleeping
• Preventing rough sleeping: learn how services can prevent people from losing their homes
• Housing advice and housing options to end rough sleeping: good practice in providing timely and effective housing advice and housing options
• Emergency accommodation services to end rough sleeping: good practice in housing people before they sleep rough
• Contact assessment and outreach to end rough sleeping: working with people on the street including street counts, outreach services, day centres and enforcement
• Accommodation and Support Pathways to end rough sleeping: providing the right pathways through accommodation services to motivate clients, prevent eviction and abandonment and move people on to jobs and homes
• Working with entrenched rough sleepers: specialist interventions and personalised approaches to support to end rough sleeping
• Working with people with no recourse to public funds to end rough sleeping: working with migrant populations with no recourse to public funds.