Hostels remain one of the main responses to homelessness in the United Kingdom. They are the subject of much debate around how effective they are at helping people escape homelessness. Our understanding of the role that hostels play as part of a system of services seeking to end homelessness in a locality remains limited.

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How we are going about it

This project aims to increase our understanding of hostels in two different phases. In phase one, we will launch a survey, the results from this survey will provide us with a clear picture of the range of accommodation across the United Kingdom that could be described as a hostel. From this, a typology of hostels will be produced which will stimulate constructive discussions about the role of hostels.

In phase two, we will conduct a full evaluation of hostels to understand which types of hostels are effective and cost-effective and how they best work with other services.