This report presents the research evidence on the links between financial exclusion and homelessness. Friends Provident and the London Housing Foundation commissioned the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York to conduct a review that would both examine the nature and impact of financial exclusion on homeless people, as well as the range of interventions that are presently used to address this financial exclusion and the extent of knowledge on ‘what works’ in this area. This review is important and timely for a number of reasons. Firstly, successive homelessness research has demonstrated the consistently low levels of income and resources available to homeless people (Anderson et al, 1993; SEU, 1998). Homelessness is associated with both poverty and social exclusion (Pleace, 1998a). In particular, the ability to access and sustain employment, and therefore to earn a reasonable wage, is greatly limited by the lack of a stable address and home (Anderson and Quilgars, 1995; Randall and Brown, 1998; OSW, 2005). Financial hardship may be exacerbated by difficulties encountered in accessing benefits, poor physical and mental health, the risk of being a victim of crime and the need to support alcohol or drug dependencies. Some homeless people resort to begging to enable them to meet daily living expenses (Fitzpatrick and Kennedy, 2000; Jovett et al, 2001). Secondly, research has demonstrated that homeless people often experience severe difficulties with accessing services across not only benefits, but also health services, education and employment as well as housing related services. Similar issues of access are also likely to be experienced for financial services, given the lack of a stable address and income associated with homelessness, as well as what is known about poor access to financial services for socially excluded groups more generally (OFT, 1999a). Thirdly, financial problems, including loss of employment, inability to pay mortgage or rent and debt, may both be a direct or contributory cause of homelessness (Anderson et al, 1993), as well as one of a number of key reasons why attempts at resettlement may fail (Dane, 1998).