FOI release
2025/26 Youth Homelessness Data
Case reference FOI2026/01045
Received 1 May 2026
Published 19 May 2026
Request
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to support our annual Youth Homelessness Databank project. The data we are requesting: We would like to know about any young people aged 16-24 who approached you as a main applicant during the financial year 2025-2026 because they were homeless or at risk of homelessness. The information we are requesting falls under the Housing Act 1996 which has been amended to include the new duties brought in by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, and the Children Act 1989. Format of responses: We have attached a template spreadsheet to this request for you to enter your response. Please return the FOI in the template provided in an Excel format. Our Freedom of Information request: We kindly request the information in the query below. In all questions ‘2025-2026’ refers to the financial year from April 2025 to March 2026. We are requesting data on homelessness presentations, assessments and eligibility for this financial year (2025-2026) including: (Q1-Q14) Annual total of unique individuals: 1st April 2025 - 31st March 2026 (Q15) Quarter 3 total of unique individuals: 1st October - 31st December 2025 For Table 1: 1) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 16-24 year olds presented themselves as homeless, or at risk of homelessness, as a main applicant? This does not include general housing advice. By presenting we mean all who presented themselves as homeless even if they were not subsequently assessed. This includes individuals who presented before 56 days of becoming homeless, or at risk of homelessness, believed they were homeless but did not meet requirement, presented but were not eligible for homelessness assistance. 2) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 16-17 year olds were assessed: a - For Prevention and/or Relief duty under part 7 of the Housing Act? b - For further support under the Children’s Act? While this assessment is a new duty brought in by the HRA, it is a duty under part 7 of the Housing Act as amended by the HRA. Please answer Q3-7 for those under 2a only. 3) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 16-17 year olds received an initial decision of being owed: a - Prevention duty under HRA b - Relief duty under HRA 4) Prevention duty ended: a - With accommodation secured b - Leading to relief duty c - Any other reason 5) Relief ended: a - With accommodation secured b - for any other reason (not including those who progress to an assessment under the Housing Act 1996) 6) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 16-17 year olds were assessed for a statutory main housing duty under part 7 of the Housing Act? By this we mean following unsuccessful prevention and/or relief outcomes, how many young people underwent a final assessment under part 7 of the Housing Act in order to assess their eligibility for a statutory main housing duty 7) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 16-17 year olds were accepted as statutorily homeless and owed a statutory main housing duty under part 6 of the Housing Act 1996? After undergoing a final assessment, how many young people were accepted as statutorily homeless and offered a statutory main housing duty. For Table 2: 8) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 18-24 year olds presented themselves as homeless, or at risk of homelessness, as a main applicant? This does not include general housing advice. By presenting we mean all who presented themselves as homeless even if they were not subsequently assessed. This includes individuals who presented before 56 days of becoming homeless, or at risk of homelessness, believed they were homeless but did not meet requirement, presented but were not eligible for homelessness assistance. 9) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 18-24 year olds were assessed for a Prevention and/or Relief duty under part 7 of the Housing Act? While this assessment is a new duty brought in by the HRA, it is a duty under part 7 of the Housing Act as amended by the HRA. 10) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 18-24 year olds received an initial decision of being owed: a - Prevention duty under HRA b - Relief duty under HRA 11) Prevention duty ended: a - With accommodation secured b - Leading to relief duty c - Any other reason 12) Relief ended: a - With accommodation secured b - for any other reason (not including those who progress to an assessment under the Housing Act 1996) 13) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 18-24 year olds were assessed for a statutory main housing duty under part 7 of the Housing Act? By this we mean following unsuccessful prevention and/or relief outcomes, how many young people underwent a final assessment under part 7 of the Housing Act in order to assess their eligibility for a statutory main housing duty 14) In your authority in 2025-2026, how many 18-24 year olds were accepted as statutorily homeless and owed a statutory main housing duty under part 6 of the Housing Act 1996? After undergoing a final assessment, how many young people were accepted as statutorily homeless and offered a statutory main housing duty. For Table 3: 15) In your authority in Quarter 3 of 2024 (1st October - 31st December 2025), how many 16-24 year olds presented themselves as homeless, or at risk of homelessness, as a main applicant? This does not include general housing advice. By presenting we mean all who presented themselves as homeless even if they were not subsequently assessed. This might include individuals who presented before 56 days of becoming homeless, or at risk of homelessness, believed they were homeless but did not meet requirement, presented but were not eligible for homelessness assistance. We are also requesting totals for 2025-26 for questions 1-14 broken down by gender (male, female, other/unknown/not recorded), and by the following nationality categories (UK, EEA, non-EEA and Unknown). Please note that P1E returns are not suitable for this request as they do not provide data broken down by age. Data Issues: If it is not possible to release some or all of the specified data, please indicate why. If you are unable to release data for some of the queries, please complete all other queries within the FOI request. If you are unable to release the specified data for the requested Quarter, please still provide data for the annual total. If the data requested is not recorded, either at all or in a format that is accessible for this purpose, please inform us of this and proceed to the next question. Use of data: Centrepoint issue this FOI request to all authorities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales and use this data to contribute to the youth homelessness databank. By responding to this request, we assume you consent to the re-use of the data in this way. Contact:
Response
A: See attached
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.