This article compares UK and US social welfare, policy and practice responses to homelessness, with the aim of identifying differences and similarities in the systems, and drawing out lessons for future policy and practice interventions, particularly as they relate to researching the issues. An introductory section briefly sets out the policy and practice context for homelessness in both countries. Next, the main part of the article systematically highlights the continuities between the response to homelessness in the UK and US, and seeks to explain some of the questions arising from this. Finally, the article draws this together by discussing implications for future interventions and research. Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.