New Research Shines a Light on England’s Homelessness Day Services
July 14, 2026
Every week, homelessness day services across England provide vital support to thousands of people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. Yet despite the critical role they play in local communities, these services often remain overlooked in national conversations about homelessness.
Today, Housing Justice is pleased to announce the publication of new research exploring the role, impact and future of faith and community homelessness day services across England. Housing Justice commissioned this research to better understand the role, impact and challenges of faith and community homelessness day services across England, and to help raise the profile of a vital but often under-recognised part of the homelessness sector.
This study draws on responses from 90 homelessness day services across England, alongside in-depth case studies with five services from different regions of the country. Together, they paint a powerful picture of a diverse sector providing flexible, relational and long-term support to people who often fall through the gaps in statutory provision.
Why this report matters
Homelessness day services are more than just places where people can access practical help. They are community hubs, trusted spaces and vital connectors within local homelessness systems.
The report highlights how services support people facing a wide range of challenges, including rough sleeping, insecure housing, poverty, poor health, addiction, isolation and exclusion from mainstream services. Their strength lies in their ability to build trust, provide ongoing support and respond flexibly to local need.
As one survey respondent explained:
“We become people’s family, so even when they move on, we stay involved, sometimes for years. We don’t just focus on the practicals such as direct debits but on supporting people to access their new community.”
Three findings that stand out
Day services are essential system connectors
Partnership working sits at the heart of almost every homelessness day service. Around 80% of services reported strong links with local authority homelessness teams, health services, and drug and alcohol services.
Day services play a crucial role in coordinating support, hosting in-reach services, participating in multi-agency work and contributing to local homelessness planning. However, more than a third of services felt that efforts to involve them in strategic decision-making could be improved.
The message is clear: day services are local experts and should be recognised as such.
Community and connection change lives
One of the strongest themes throughout the research was the importance of belonging.
People accessing services consistently spoke about being treated with dignity, feeling welcomed and being known as individuals. For many, day services provide community – a place to build relationships, recover, reconnect and move forward.
These relational approaches are often central to achieving positive outcomes and sustaining long-term change.
Services are ambitious but under pressure
Demand for support continues to grow, while funding uncertainty remains a major challenge.
The most commonly identified challenges were managing increasing levels of need and securing stable funding. Nearly all services highlighted the importance of core revenue funding to maintain staffing, buildings and service quality.
Despite these pressures, the sector remains ambitious. More than half of services plan to expand their work, with aspirations including increased casework support, longer opening hours, more therapeutic activities and greater focus on early prevention.
As one respondent highlighted the pressures placed on services’ resources:
“Statutory partners take it for granted that they can use our building to meet clients, without contributing anything to our costs.”
Who is this report for?
This report has important messages for several audiences.
- For people running homelessness day services, it offers a shared language for the work you do, celebrates effective practice and strengthens a collective identity across a diverse national sector.
- For funders, it provides clear evidence of what services need to thrive, including sustained investment, core funding and support for long-term sustainability.
- For policymakers and strategic leaders, it demonstrates the unique strengths of day services and the crucial gaps they fill within local homelessness systems. The report argues that day services should be recognised as community hubs, embedded within local homelessness strategies and routinely consulted as trusted local experts.
Join the conversation
We hope this research will help strengthen understanding of homelessness day services, raise their profile nationally and support greater investment in their future.
The full report is available here on the Housing Justice website, and we invite everyone with an interest in homelessness, community action and faith-based social justice to read it.
To explore the findings in more detail, join us for our launch webinar on the 15th July at 2pm, where we will discuss the research, hear reflections from services and consider what the findings mean for the future of homelessness support across England. You can register here.
