Jeremy White, former Head of National Partnerships at Homeless Link reflects at a time of change.
After 14 years of supporting local areas to strengthen collaboration and embed partnership-led approaches to ending homelessness, Homeless Link's national partnership support service will come to an end in March 2026. As we reach this milestone, it is important to reflect on the journey we've taken together - the achievements, innovations and relationships that have shaped the landscape of partnership working across England.
Since its inception, funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the service has played a central role in helping local areas build the strong, cohesive systems needed to tackle homelessness. Homeless Link has long emphasised that ending homelessness requires collaboration across voluntary organisations, local authorities, health services and the wider public and private sectors - a principle that has been at the heart of our partnership work for more than a decade.
Building the sector's first Partnership Self-Assessment Framework
One of our most significant legacies is the development and implementation of the housing and homelessness sector's first-of-its-kind Partnership Self-Assessment Framework & Toolkit. This resource introduced a shared, evidence-based way for local systems to understand the maturity, strengths and gaps in their partnership arrangements. It has been widely used across England to improve collaboration, support strategy development and inform local action planning.
This framework set a new benchmark for partnership quality, giving local areas a structured method to reflect, plan and improve - and creating a common language for partnership effectiveness.
Embedding partnership approaches across England
Over the past decade, Homeless Link has worked with hundreds of local and regional partners to strengthen multi-agency collaboration. Our ability to bring together statutory and non-statutory stakeholders has helped embed partnership-based approaches in diverse geographies, from large metropolitan regions to rural areas.
By convening local authorities, voluntary sector organisations, health services, commissioners, people with lived experience and others, the service has helped teams work together more effectively and sustainably to tackle local homelessness challenges.
Embedding new forums and governance structures
Our Partnership Managers have supported the creation and development of forums, partnership groups, charters, frameworks, pathways and Homelessness Reduction Boards across England.
These structures which continue operating today, have strengthened local governance, improved decision-making, fostered transparent joined up working and given partners a shared safe space to learn, problem-solve and plan more effectively.
The result has been more coordinated homelessness systems, better relationships and a stronger foundation for long-term strategic work.
Using local intelligence to inform strategic priorities
Throughout the past 4 years, we have gathered more than 3,000 pieces of intelligence from partners across housing, homelessness and related sectors. This insight has played a vital role in helping local areas understand emerging challenges, inform strategic priorities and adjust action plans in response to real-time issues.
These intelligence-gathering efforts align with Homeless Link's wider commitment to understanding sector trends, maintaining strong relationships with frontline organisations and supporting areas to respond to the evolving homelessness landscape.
A legacy of collaboration and system change
What stands out most from the last 14 years is not just the outputs of our work, but the transformation in how local areas collaborate. Homeless Link's partnership work has consistently:
- Connected organisations that have not worked together before
- Strengthened relationships between local authorities and the voluntary sector
- Facilitated shared problem-solving
- Embedded approaches that continue to shape local systems today
This legacy reflects Homeless Link's standing role in convening diverse partners and supporting more cohesive local and regional homelessness responses in England.
Looking ahead
As our national partnership support service comes to a close, we celebrate the commitment, innovation and collaboration demonstrated by so many individuals and organisations across England. The principles and tools we have developed together - including the Self-Assessment Framework, partnerships models and the many governance structures established - will continue to support local systems long into the future.
We are immensely proud of what has been achieved over the past 14 years. Thank you to every member, partner, stakeholder and colleague who has contributed to this journey. Together, we have built stronger foundations for ending homelessness through genuine collaboration - and that legacy will continue to shape the sector for years to come.
