“Housing first” strategy could help end rough sleeping
The number of rough sleepers in England plummeted during the pandemic. Latest figures show that 2,688 people were thought to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2020, down 37 per cent from the previous year.
The dip has been attributed to the government’s ‘Everyone In’ scheme, which asked local authorities to house rough sleepers at the beginning of the pandemic to protect their health and stop wider transmission of Covid-19. About 37,000 people have been given accommodation under the scheme since it was launched last March.
While these figures suggest an improvement, they are not the full picture. The annual rough sleeping count is based on a snapshot of a single night – either through a physical street count, an estimate of the number of people sleeping rough or mix of both. Inevitably, the count misses a significant number of people living on the streets, including those not sleeping rough when the count takes place, those hidden from view and those who aren’t bedded down for the night.
A recent report on homeless deaths brought the consequences of this missing data into stark relief. The Museum of Homelessness found that although the offer of hotel accommodation managed to prevent deaths from Covid-19,fatalities among rough sleepers still rose 37 per cent to 976 last year, as people struggled to access services already stretched by pre-pandemic cuts.
These bleak figures show that although ‘Everyone In’ was a positive start, the government needs to find a more comprehensive strategy for addressing rough sleeping post-pandemic – and one think tank believes it has the answer. The Centre for Social Justice has found mounting evidence that a ‘housing first’ approach is the key to breaking the cycle of homelessness for people whose situation is compounded by serious mental health issues, drug or alcohol dependency, or a history of trauma – and is advocating for its use in the UK.
As Joe Shalam, head of financial inclusion and housing at the CSJ, explains: “At its core, Housing First basically flips the traditional approach to rough sleeping on its head. It says we’ll start by giving you a permanent, self-contained, long-term home, and then when you’re ready… we will apply the intensive personalised support that you need to address whatever problems are holding you back in your life.”
The CSJ published an initial Housing First report in 2017 after seeing the approach’s success in Finland, where it has been rolled out nationally and rough sleeping has been all but eradicated. The then-housing secretary Sajid Javid went on to introduce three large-scale city Housing First pilots.
The pilots in Liverpool, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, which currently house around 800 of the most vulnerable rough sleepers, are halfway through their tenure and have shown positive results. In its recent Close to Home report, CSJ found that 88, 89 and 86 per cent of people housed by the respective pilots have sustained their tenancies so far, with staff reporting that the pilots have had a positive impact on people’s lives.
According to Shalam, one of the main reasons why the model is so successful is its person-centred approach: “One of the things that really works about housing first is the fact that people aren’t feeling like they’re jumping through hoops to get out of their situation”. Another reason why the model is so successful, he explains, is that each participant in the scheme is given a specific key worker that knows their case, is able to bring together a wide range of different services and has the time to develop a mutual sense of trust.
People housed through the scheme are given as much choice about their location as realistically possible, as well as a small personal budget to buy furniture or interior fittings such as curtains or an armchair. “Just giving some element of choice is a really great way of building not only a sense of normality, but also a sense of ownership and agency to the individual going through the programme,” Shalam says. “When someone has been through the hostel system and in crowded shared emergency accommodation settings, those little things go such a long way.”
Not only is Housing First better for participants, but it is also a cost-effective solution for helping rough sleepers with the most complex needs. Evidence from the US, Canada and Finland suggests that spending on Housing First creates potential for offsets in public spending, because participants with high support needs have reduced contact with homelessness, emergency health and criminal justice services. In the UK, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has estimated that if Housing First is rolled out as the default option for homeless adults with complex needs, it could save £200 million a year after two years of implementation at scale.
Following the release of CSJ’s Closer to Home report, the think tank’s proposals for Housing First in the UK have been met with a wave of support from NGOs, charities and the government.
In a speech at the launch of the report, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Rough sleeping is a terrible waste of lives. To see dignity and purpose and the love of family and friends restored is a wonderful thing to behold… so I will champion Housing First”. He added: “One solution, it goes without saying, will not fit all. This must be multi-targeted and multi-focus. But the principle that everything begins with a home will be our guiding star”. The government has currently invested £28 million in the three city region Housing First pilots, and has committed to a further roll out.
Shalam would like the government engaging with CSJ’s latest proposals at the earliest possible opportunity to help end rough sleeping ahead of the government’s 2024 target. He recognises the time it takes to get programmes like this “set up at scale” but says that he would like to see the funding to secure 16,500 Housing First places by the end of the parliamentary term in 2024.
“It’s not right for everyone but providing an intervention for the most complex and challenging cohort of people is absolutely mission-critical to ending rough sleeping, and that’s what Housing First does,” he says. “We won’t necessarily end rough sleeping with just Housing First, but we certainly won’t end it without it”.