“Duty to Assist” is a homelessness prevention strategy that has successfully been implemented in Wales to enforce the Human Right to Housing. It is a form of legislation that holds local authorities, such as governments, accountable for their role in preventing homelessness. With Duty to Assist in place, authorities are legally required to make reasonable efforts to assist households that are at risk of homelessness and help to secure housing for those already experiencing homelessness.
In this Prevention Matters! panel session, we learned about this transformative approach to homelessness prevention. Peter Mackie (Centre for Homelessness Impact, Cardiff University) is the key architect behind implementing the Duty to Assist in Wales, and he shared powerful insights on what it took to make this work happen, along with key learnings.