The Prince of Wales marks three years of Homewards in London and Aberdeen

Today, The Prince of Wales marked three years of Homewards with an anniversary event in London and a visit to Aberdeen to meet local residents who have moved into homes created by the programme.

The events spotlighted early progress that shows that prevention is working and that homelessness can be made to be rare, brief and unrepeated.

Launched in 2023, Homewards is now past the mid-point of its five-year programme – and with early, measurable signs of change now visible across its six locations.

The Prince of Wales began the day in London joining Homewards partners and business leaders to reflect on progress and share learning on prevention.

A panel discussion featuring business leaders from Pret A Manger, Lloyds Banking Group, IKEA and Octopus Energy Group discussed how homelessness prevention can become part of everyday business practice. The event also featured speeches from organisations including Invisible Cities, which shared how it had scaled its operations training and employing people as tour guides in cities across the UK thanks to help from Homewards.

During the visit, His Royal Highness recognised the tangible progress made so far, with more than 2,400 people reached through early support, over 70 individuals and families now in stable homes, and more than 250 people supported into employment. He emphasised the importance of acting earlier to reduce the risk of homelessness through measures including strengthening the links between schools, workplaces and community services so that more people can access support before they reach a moment of crisis.

The Prince also highlighted the role of partnerships such as the Homewards Data Lab, which brings together organisations to use data and technology to identify risk earlier and target support more effectively.

Prince William said: “It is clear that Homewards is changing lives and now imagine the scale we could achieve if our approach was adopted in every corner of the country.”

“Our progress so far has only been possible because of those in this room today. The people working every day in our locations. And the people with lived experience, whose insight continues to shape better solutions.”

“Homewards is already providing that preventing homelessness is possible. But there is much more to do.”

In Aberdeen, The Prince visited Langstane Housing Association, a key Homewards partner. There, he saw how empty properties are being brought back into use and provided as furnished homes, alongside tailored support to help people settle and sustain tenancies.

Meeting staff, residents and partners, His Royal Highness heard first-hand how consistent support and strong local collaboration are helping to prevent homelessness in practice, enabling people to find stability and build independent lives. The Prince also joined efforts to prepare essential household packs for new residents and visited a development to see progress on the ground.

Today’s engagements mark the end of a month of anniversary events that have taken place across the UK. Each local Coalition has met to mark three years, recognise the impact that’s been made so far and build momentum for the next phase.

Over the next two years, Homewards locations will focus on demonstrating what works and scaling those approaches to build a model for long-term, system-wide change to prevent homelessness.