Discussion of rural homelessness needs to be set within the relevant policy context. The first thing to note, however, is that there is no policy which specifically addresses the issue of rural homelessness. Consequently, in this chapter we focus on general homelessness policies and then on those rural policies which have a bearing on preventing and tackling homelessness in rural areas (see Table 4.1 for a timeline of key policy reports and developments).

In the first part, we trace the development of the homelessness legislation over the past 25 years. We begin with a brief review of the 1977 Housing (Homeless Persons) Act, before looking in more detail at the events leading up to the implementation of the 1996 Housing Act – under which homelessness is currently dealt with. We then turn our attention to developments since the election of the New Labour government in May1997, examining the proposed reforms to the homelessness legislation asset out in the Housing Green Paper (published in April 2000) and Part II of the subsequent Homes Bill, introduced into the House of Commons later that year.

These documents make little or no reference to the particular needs of rural areas. Instead, it is left to the Rural White Paper (published in November 2000) to set out the government's policy in relation to housing and homelessness in these areas. In the second part of this chapter we provide a comprehensive account of this policy, looking in particular at government initiatives to increase the amount of affordable accommodation in rural areas. We also highlight the potentially positive contribution that non-housing policies can make both to preventing and dealing with homelessness in rural areas.

In the third part of the chapter we look at government efforts to tackle rough sleeping. To date, the homelessness legislation has been primarily geared towards addressing the needs of homeless families and a number of other selected groups deemed to be in priority need of accommodation. Priority cases are dominated by households with or expecting children who consistently account for two thirds of homeless households in this category. The single homeless have, for the most part, been left to make their own arrangements with the exception of one particular subset of this population – rough sleepers. This group has been the focus of a considerable amount of attention and has received substantial resources under the Rough Sleepers Initiative. We provide a brief overview of this and subsequent initiatives to reduce the number of people sleeping rough.