Date: 09 June 2026
Author: London Teck Week PR Team

Tuesday 9 June: Thousands of people across the UK face homelessness every year, but the warning signs often appear long before crisis point. Today, the Prince of Wales’s Homewards programme has launched the Homelessness Data Lab, a first-of-its-kind national collaboration designed to improve how data and technology are used to prevent homelessness.

The Homelessness Data Lab, delivered in partnership with LandAid and Salesforce, will demonstrate how the tools already used in modern business can be applied ethically and responsibly to identify people at risk of homelessness at its earliest stages, when support can have the greatest impact. Bringing together over 25 organisations across business, technology, government, local authorities and frontline services, the Lab will explore innovative and practical prevention solutions, which will be piloted across the six flagship Homewards locations.

Members of the Homelessness Data Lab include Bloomberg, VodafoneThree, Accenture and NatWest Group, who will develop time-bound, practical projects focused on improving coordination between frontline services; reducing response times; developing a better understanding of why people experience homelessness; and better signposting support to people at the first signs of struggle. These projects will aim to demonstrate that homelessness can be predictable, and therefore preventable.

Salesforce, an existing Homewards Activator, has supported the creation of the Homelessness Data Lab through technical expertise and capacity.

Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO, Salesforce UK & Ireland, said:

“Our work with Prince William’s Homewards programme and the launch of the Homelessness Data Lab represents a definitive shift in how society can tackle its most complex challenges. Over 430,000 people across the UK are currently facing homelessness – but this isn’t inevitable.

Homelessness is rarely random; it can be predictable, which means with the right tools and support, it can be preventable. By bringing together more than 25 organisations across the private, public, and non-profit sectors, the Data Lab allows us to put data and technology to work safely and ethically where it is needed most. At Salesforce, we believe business is one of the greatest platforms for change, and we are proud to contribute our technology and expertise to empower frontline services, identify risk earlier, and help make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated.”

The launch of the Homelessness Data Lab is being marked by a partnership with London Tech Week, where homelessness will feature on the agenda for the first time. Activity will include a panel discussion featuring The Prince of Wales and senior business leaders, alongside a pitch session where five entrepreneurs from Venture Studio from Crisis and the Homewards locations will pitch their innovations that use data and tech to prevent homelessness.

Homewards was launched in 2023 and works across six locations in the UK, including Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Lambeth, Newport, Northern Ireland and Sheffield. Since launch, Homewards has worked to engage a wide range of organisations, including those outside the traditional homelessness sector, demonstrating that prevention requires action across all levels of society. Its goal is to show that homelessness can be made rare, brief and unrepeated if we all play our part.

Dan Hughes, Trustee at LandAid, said:

“LandAid is proud to be a delivery partner of the Homelessness Data Lab alongside\ Homewards and Salesforce. The property industry has a real role to play in tackling youth homelessness, and this collaboration is a brilliant example of what’s possible when businesses, government and the sector come together around shared data and a shared goal. By using data to identify warning signs earlier, we can move from responding to crisis to preventing it, and that shift is exactly what LandAid exists to support.”

Hazel Detsiny, Executive Director, Homelessness at The Royal Foundation, said:

“The Royal Foundation has a proud track record in harnessing brilliant collaboration and the latest technology as a force for change – and this is the time to bring homelessness into such conversations. Through our Homewards programme, we’re focused on how we can best use technology to demonstrate that homelessness is not inevitable and that in many cases it can be predictable – and therefore preventable.

“We’re proud to be working with LandAid and Salesforce to launch the UK’s first Homelessness Data Lab, where partners are developing and testing practical projects across our locations to use data more effectively. The real-life impacts range from identifying patterns of risk to enabling earlier, more targeted support. It’s all about showing what’s possible, and how such data-led approaches can be scaled to prevent homelessness before it starts.”

About The Homelessness Data Lab

The Homelessness Data Lab brings together businesses including Accenture, Flightstory, Freshfields, Knight Frank, LandAid, NatWest Group, Ordnance Survey, PUBLIC, Salesforce, Smart Data Foundry, VodafoneThree, Vu.City, and Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy that advises cities around the world and is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The Lab also includes sector partners Crisis, Centrepoint, Centre for Homelessness Impact, Community Action Network, and Homeless Link, as well as MHCLG, local authorities and local organisations in the six Homewards locations and individuals with lived experience.

Homewards

Founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in June 2023, Homewards is a transformative, locally led programme that aims to demonstrate that it’s possible to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated. Over five years, Homewards is working with six flagship locations across the UK to provide them with the space, tools and expertise to deliver and demonstrate innovative solutions that prevent and end homelessness, creating tried and tested models that can be scaled. 

Homewards will also raise awareness of the breadth and complexities of homelessness through national campaigns, local storytelling and by placing those with lived experience at the heart of this work.

The Royal Foundation

The Prince and Princess of Wales and The Royal Foundation lead with the belief that change is always possible and are committed to building innovative,
collaborative and optimistic solutions that deliver positive impact where it matters most.

Together, Their Royal Highnesses and The Royal Foundation have an unparalleled ability to take a long-term view and unite people, ideas and resources; inspiring action to deliver meaningful change for a better future for individuals, communities, society and our planet.

For more information on The Royal Foundation and its programmes of work, please visit: https://royalfoundation.com/

About London Tech Week

London Tech Week is Europe’s global stage for technology, bringing together the thinkers and doers shaping the future of business through tech, creating the connections, insights and opportunities that power growth.