As homelessness soars, one solution is providing hope

Homelessness and rough sleeping is a growing crisis in the Liverpool City Region. This weekend the ECHO published a special report in the emergency facing the city of Liverpool right now.

But while this situation represents an enormous challenge for regions like ours, there are some green shoots of hope in terms of how people can be helped off the streets and can rebuild their lives. That hope comes from a project called Housing First.

Championed by Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram since his fist election win in 2017, Housing First has been piloted in our region as well as in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands since then. Housing First helps people experiencing the most severe and complex homelessness to access and maintain independent housing.

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It provides a stable home alongside personalised, intensive support from a dedicated practitioner to deal with mental and physical health issues such as addiction and the effects of trauma and abuse.

And it really works. Mayor Rotheram has today welcome a national evaluation of the Housing First pilot schemes, that revealed impressive results for the pioneering approach to tackling homelessness.

The five-year evaluation shows the approach, which provides housing alongside intensive support, has delivered good value for money, improving clients’ health while reducing loneliness and involvement in anti-social behaviour and crime, as well as reducing the likelihood of being a victim of crime.

Mayor Rotheram said: “Everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home, yet too many people across our country have found themselves trapped in cycles of homelessness. Here in the Liverpool City Region, we’ve championed the Housing First approach from the very beginning, supporting more than 400 people to rebuild their lives with a secure home and the dedicated, wraparound support they need.

“The results speak for themselves: improved health and well-being, reduced anti-social behaviour, and better value for money for the public purse. But we can't stop here. To ensure this ground-breaking approach delivers its full potential, it’s essential that we secure continued funding and roll it out nationally. We owe it to those who need it most to keep pushing forward.”

The report revealed that there had been a positive shift in wellbeing and health, particularly mental health, compared to service users’ circumstances prior to Housing First. In addition, they were significantly less likely to have been involved in antisocial or criminal behaviour. Housing First service users were significantly more likely to feel safe, and less likely to have been a victim of crime.

The pilots were also considered good value for money in the study. The cost of supporting a service user averaged at £7,700 per person, per year and, while the full effect of Housing First may take years to be seen, the benefit to the public purse through the costs associated with homelessness, as well as the improvements in personal well-being, were valued at more than double that, at £15,880 per person, per year.

The Liverpool City Region pilot has supported more than 400 people with repeat and chronic homelessness, more than half of whom moved into their own homes with 76% of service users maintaining their tenancies.

More than 300 service users were involved in the study across the country, with follow up interviews taking place after six months and then again at 12 months on programme. Individual delivery teams then went on to provide more information on the person’s key outcomes including their experience of maintaining their tenancy, substance misuse, health and social support.

Notably, service users, many of whom had been homeless for long periods of time due to a combination of childhood trauma and other adverse life events, described their journeys to support workers as ‘astonishing’, ‘amazing’, ‘remarkable’, ‘incredible’ and ‘miraculous.’

One service user said: "They actually treat me like an adult. Housing First has no judgement, they are here for you. They sit with you; they listen to your voice and take your words into account instead of talking to third parties about you.

“When I first met Housing First, because I’d been let down so much, I thought it was another let down. The more I got to know them, the more I began to trust my Housing First worker. We got to know each other a bit. All I know and recall really is that there was this lovely person that had come into my life who was telling me there was hope.”

While the study overall was positive, the pilots did experience challenges as they were designed, implemented and embedded at regional and local levels. Issues included the limited supply of accommodation – usually one-bedroom flats – and the uncertainty of long-term funding.

Stakeholders interviewed as part of the study agreed that a strategy outlining the future funding support for Housing First is needed in order to provide the fundamental offer of flexible support for clients as long as it is needed, particularly as the majority of service users are still supported by the programme several years on.