One of the accusations often thrown at governments, think tanks and charities is that they seek out complex and convoluted solutions to problems rather than the simple ones. With homelessness, this policy equation works something like this - if people are experiencing poverty, give them access to money. It’s primary colours policy-making, and it’s undeniably appealing. 

Often, of course, the complexities of people's lives aren’t drawn in primary colours and so the solutions to their problems might need to be more complex too. But not always.

For the past 18 months the Centre for Homelessness Impact has been running  a Test and Learn and Systems-Wide Evaluation programme, funded by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. It seeks, in part, to test some of these solutions - both the simple and more complicated. This isn’t something that’s simply a ‘nice to do’, it’s part of understanding what actually works to end homelessness or, even better, prevent it from happening in the first place. 

Our Personalised Budgets trial is an example of just such a study, and we were pleased to hold an event in Dover in May with one of our delivery partners, Porchlight. In this randomised controlled trial, participants (from across the country and supported by various delivery partners) are split into a control group who continue their support as normal and an intervention group who receive personalised budgets. Along with the help of a support worker, participants can plan how to use their budget from a significant amount of money allocated to them, with purchases then arranged by their support worker.Our trial seeks to understand if this makes repeated homelessness less likely, and improves things like housing stability. 

During our event we heard exactly how these budgets had been spent by participants in Dover. For one woman who had been living in her car after a painful loss of employment, she used her budget to get a new computer and enrol on a training course. For another, money had been spent on furnishing her new home, so that it felt like a true family space where she could rebuild relationships with her children and grandchildren. For others, money had been used to clear debts so that a new life could be built without the shadow of financial distress hanging over them. 

In the room, the key takeaway was that for many participants, they hadn’t just been given access to money, they had been given choice and they’d reclaimed a sense of dignity. 

This study isn’t yet over and we can’t yet report statistical outcomes for this type of trial. Those will come in due course and will be shared widely, whether the results suggest success or otherwise. However, what we can see at this juncture, is that this intervention - perhaps one that does work in primary colours, where people experiencing hardship are simply offered additional financial support tied to  purpose- has made a considerable and tangible difference on a personal level. 

This testimony was anecdotal, but we must always listen to people with experience of homelessness or who are going through it now. Often they know most closely what has happened, its causes and its solutions. In telling their stories, of pride, of hope and of dignity, we hope to truly understand what works to build a world without homelessness.