Post-Brexit re-engagement in policy transfer: the case of homelessness policy

While Brexit clearly reduces formal policy interactions between the UK and the EU, less clear is what happens to the informal interactions which gradually took shape over almost 50 years of the UK’s EU membership—such as policy transfer, the exchange of policy ideas. This article therefore examines the impact of Brexit on the informal policy transfer mechanisms between the UK and the EU, focusing on the area of homelessness policy. On a theoretical level, the article proposes a new model combining the post-Brexit re-engagement literature with the EU policy transfer literature. Through a programme of interviews in Brussels and Westminster, the analysis finds that a decline in the density of formal exchange networks was partially compensated by renewed intensity in informal exchanges, showing evidence of re-engagement in policy transfer.