Prince William tells tech industry it could help prevent homelessness

Prince William has told the tech industry that homelessness rarely happens without warning - and technology could help to solve the issue.

The prince told London Tech Week that data, technology and businesses could spot the warning signs of homelessness early and prevent homelessness before it occurs.

"The earlier you deal with a problem, the better, as we all know in life," said Prince William.

"There's no one problem that fixes homelessness. It's multifaceted; it's many different things.

"Many of your customers, your clients, will be using data through banking apps, through their phones," he told the tech conference.

"I'm not sure you realise how much that data can be used to predict and see problems with potential homelessness before they actually arise."

Homewards, the prince's homelessness programme, is launching the Homelessness Data Lab, which will employ techniques currently used by businesses to "ethically and responsibly" identify people at risk of homelessness at its earliest stages, when support can have the greatest impact.

Prince William highlighted how technology can be harnessed as a force for good with the potential to help to prevent homelessness not just in the UK, but globally.

The project will be partnered with Salesforce and the UK property charity LandAid.

It will work alongside other major businesses like Accenture, VodafoneThree, Bloomberg and NatWest to see how techniques used in their businesses could help to end homelessness.

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More than 430,000 people face homelessness in the UK but it is "rarely random", according to Zahra Bahrololoumi, chief executive of Salesforce UK and Ireland.

"It can be predictable, which means with the right tools and support, it can be preventable," she said.

"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."

Dan Hughes, a trustee at LandAid, said the property industry has a "real role to play in tackling youth homelessness".

"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."

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Today marks the first time homelessness has been on the agenda at London Tech Week, one of the country's biggest tech events.

The Queen is also expected to visit a St Mungo's accommodation site today. The charity supports those experiencing homelessness.

Queen Camilla will meet residents and staff connected to a reading programme enabled by The Queen's Reading Room.

(c) Sky News 2026: Prince William tells tech industry it could help prevent homelessness