Calling on the Government for Housing First, not housing only

Photo of St Mungo's staff during appointment with client

The centrepiece of the new Conservative Government’s commitment to end rough sleeping is an expansion of the Housing First scheme. Dave Wilson, Impact & Evaluation Officer, shares some new research about St Mungo’s own Housing First services and discusses how they offer a potential solution to our rough sleeping crisis.

It was easy to miss it, but the major parties made big commitments on homelessness in this election. The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all gave manifesto pledges to eliminate rough sleeping – the most extreme and dangerous form of homelessness – from our streets altogether.

As the dust settles on the result, one of the things we at St Mungo’s have been thinking about is how the new Conservative government will deliver on their pledge to end rough sleeping by 2024.

The Conservative manifesto makes it clear that the government sees an expansion of Housing First – an internationally proven approach to tackling rough sleeping – as a big part of the answer.

And so, now seems like a good time to share the work we have been doing recently about some of our own Housing First services, in Brighton and Hove, and Westminster.

An in-depth look at how Housing First operates in the UK

Housing First services look quite different to conventional homelessness services. In Housing First, individuals who are sleeping rough are given direct access to independent accommodation without going through a homeless hostel or shelter. From there they are offered intensive, holistic support from support workers.

Study after study has shown Housing First to be a very effective solution to homelessness. But much of this research comes from the US and the housing system and homelessness services work very differently there. We wanted to explore in more detail what Housing First looks like in practice in a UK setting.

Our new research, published this week in partnership with the University of Salford, looks at two St Mungo’s Housing First services in Brighton and Hove, and Westminster. Both areas face very similar challenges: an overheated housing market, a severe shortage of social housing and some of the highest levels of rough sleeping in the country.

An effective solution, but practical constraints

For us, there are three main lessons from the research:

Housing First can be an effective solution to rough sleeping in the UK.
Both projects work with clients who have chaotic housing histories. In many cases, these individuals had been through and struggled with the system of conventional homelessness services on multiple occasions. But the research found that the Housing First teams were very effective at supporting these clients to sustain independent tenancies. Crucially, even when clients struggled to maintain the tenancy or were evicted, they continued to receive support from their Housing First support worker. This was often an important platform to help them get things back on track.
Some of the Housing First principles are compromised by lack of housing options.
We learned that there are serious challenges to operating a Housing First service in the form originally intended in these areas. One of the principles underlying Housing First is that clients should have choice and control over where they live and security of tenure. Both of those are hard to achieve in cities where private housing is shockingly expensive and social housing waiting lists stretch thousands long.
Partnership working is key to success in Housing First.
Clients in Housing First services often have a range of complex, interrelated needs. Support is most effective when it is provided by a skilled, multidisciplinary team covering specialisms like drug and alcohol treatment, mental health and employment skills. The model is at its best when it is Housing First, not housing only. It is also vital for services to cultivate good relationships with private sector and social landlords. The research highlighted this in Westminster in particular, where all Housing First clients were able to access secure social accommodation via a single housing association, Sanctuary.

Housing First should be part of a wider strategy to tackle rough sleeping

Last year, the government announced £28 million of new funding for three Housing First pilots, in the West Midlands, Liverpool and Greater Manchester.

Our research strengthens the case that Housing First is an effective solution to rough sleeping, and we welcome these schemes.

But we also know that Housing First works best if the wider environment is right. £1 billion has been cut from vital homelessness services in the past decade. There is a lot of ground to make up to ensure everyone sleeping rough has the right, tailored package of support for them.

That is why we are calling on the government in our Home for Good campaign to take the bold action needed to end rough sleeping for good.

Firstly, it must ensure an adequate supply of social housing.
Secondly, it must make the private rented sector more secure and more affordable.
And thirdly, it needs to provide long-term guaranteed funding for homelessness services. This includes Housing First, but it should not be limited to it.

More Housing First is a good idea, but without these wider changes, the Government will not be able to follow through on its pledge and end rough sleeping for good.

Read the full report and our summary.

The homelessness election? Why the main parties have said more on homelessness than you might think

As the UK prepares for the General Election this week, our Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Rory Weal, takes a look at the commitments that each of the four largest political parties in England have made to tackle homelessness in their manifestos.

You’re unlikely to have missed that there is a general election happening this Thursday. It’s dominated the airwaves over the past six weeks.

But you’d be forgiven for having missed what the parties have been saying about homelessness. With so much airtime going on other issues from Brexit to the NHS, it’s been easy to overlook that the major parties have been talking more and more about homelessness. This has stepped up in recent days with both Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson publically condemning rough sleeping, saying they’ll end it within five years if they win on Thursday.

But at St Mungo’s we want politicians to move beyond soundbites, we need real action to tackle rough sleeping. The number of people on the streets has risen 165% since 2010, and last year, on average, two people died every day while sleeping rough or in emergency accommodation. This is nothing short of a national disgrace that needs urgent action, not lip service.

That’s why we teamed up with five other homelessness charities – Centrepoint, Crisis, Depaul UK, Homeless Link and Shelter – to form the End Homelessness Now campaign. Together we are calling on parties to ensure everybody in our society has a safe and stable home, by putting in place a clear plan that commits to:

Improving access to truly affordable housing, by building at least 90,000 social homes a year over the next five years, and improving security for tenants in the private rented sector
Strengthening support through the welfare system, through housing benefit that covers the cost of rent and fixing Universal Credit so that it doesn’t push people into homelessness
Providing long-term, guaranteed funding for services which prevent homelessness and quickly get people off the street and into a stable home.

Last week at the national housing hustings we had an opportunity to put these messages to senior figures from each of the largest parties in England. Former St Mungo’s client and campaign champion Kevin Farrell made a powerful case for action when he said that the support he relied upon when he slept rough 10 years ago is no longer available: “Enough is enough. What are your concrete plans to end rough sleeping?”

Now with all of the manifestos published, we can outline what those concrete plans are. Below is a summary of the relevant commitments in the manifestos of the four largest parties in England, based on the number of MPs elected at the last election:

Conservatives

End rough sleeping by the end of the next Parliament by expanding programmes such as the Rough Sleeping Initiative and Housing First, and bring together local services to meet the health and housing needs of people sleeping on the streets.
Introduce stamp duty surcharge on non-UK resident buyers to fund £120 million to tackle rough sleeping.
Abolish ‘no fault’ evictions and only require one ‘lifetime’ deposit which moves with renters.
End the benefit freeze. Continue the roll out of Universal Credit, and do more to make sure that Universal Credit works for the most vulnerable.

Labour

End rough sleeping within five years, with a national plan driven by a prime minister-led taskforce.
£75bn to build 150,000 new council and social homes a year, within five years.
Make available 8,000 additional homes for people with a history of rough sleeping.
Raise the Local Housing Allowance in line with the 30th percentile of local rents.
Earmark an additional £1 billion a year for councils’ homelessness services.
Expand and upgrade hostels; with extra shelters and support in place in all areas over winter.
Repeal the Vagrancy Act.
Ensure that all strategies and services are tailored to understand needs unique to LGBT+ homeless people, particularly young people.
Scrap ‘no fault’ section 21 evictions and replace with open ended tenancies, with rent controls.
Universal Credit will be scrapped. People will immediately be stopped from moving over to the system.

Liberal Democrats

To end rough sleeping within five years, and urgently publish a plan to end all forms of homelessness.
Build at least 100,000 homes for social rent each year.
Exempt groups of homeless people, and those at risk of homelessness, from the Shared Accommodation Rate.
Introduce a ‘somewhere safe to stay’ legal duty for people at risk of sleeping rough.
Ensure financial resources for local authorities to deliver the Homelessness Reduction Act.

Greens

Fund councils to deliver over 100,000 new social homes.
Lift the local housing allowance and reconnect it to average area rents.
Give councils clearer guidance and better training on helping homeless people, and fund a wider range of services including Housing First – costs can be met from a £10 billion yearly uplift to council funding.
Refocus council services in this area on homelessness prevention, through expanding and combining multiple funding pots into a single grant distributed to councils.
Repeal the Vagrancy Act.

We didn’t get everything we wanted from all parties, but with a range of clear commitments to end rough sleeping and many welcome policies to achieve that aim we have something to hold each of them to account on.

We believe we can continue to urge whoever wins on Thursday to step up efforts to tackle the homelessness crisis. We are encouraging our supporters and clients to vote on Thursday, and ensure that the next government’s acts to End Homelessness Now. The costs of not acting are too high.

Go back

Month: December 2019