HOUSING
BUILDING TRUST
Homelessness is what happens when all else fails , so how can we reverse the trend ? asked Cranstoun ’ s Social Justice Conference . DDN reports
‘ W e don ’ t have rough sleeping in Finland , and a key factor has been the implementation of Housing First policies ,’ said Riikka Perälä from the Y-Foundation . Temporary accommodation had been made available to people who were homeless , comprising individual units with a shared kitchen and bathroom .
The Finnish government had been actively involved in national homelessness programmes with a goal to end rough sleeping , and prevention had then been adopted as part of the model . The focus had been both national and local . ‘ There ’ s been cooperation at different levels , including service providers and politicians , for things to work ,’ she said . A ‘ wide partnership ’ coupled with ‘ concrete quantitative goals ’ had brought this about .
The Housing First model in Finland highlighted housing as a human right , focused on permanent housing , and looked at the related support . ‘ It ’ s important for people to feel that their housing is permanent ,’ she said . Through the original model , the country had been investing in a stock of affordable housing – although she was concerned that the government elected 18 months ago was cutting down on these policies .
‘ Instead of highlighting an emergency response , we highlight prevention ,’ she said . ‘ And we highlight support to remain in housing .’ Affordable social housing was a critical element of ending homelessness , alongside adequate housing benefit . ‘ It ’ s not just about one policy , it ’ s about being collaborative .’
‘ A housing crisis and homelessness are not the same crisis ,’ said Rick Henderson of Homeless link , who acknowledged the ‘ many intertwined ’ crises in the UK . ‘ All the numbers have been going in the wrong direction for a long time ,’ he said . ‘ Homelessness is what happens when everything else fails . For the last five years the government followed a strat egy to end rough sleeping . It failed .’ For every person taken off the streets , two were arriving – because the government was doing nothing to keep people off the streets . ‘ We can wax lyrical about what contributed to the rise in homelessness , but the new government is a chance for change ,’ he said .
‘ A housing crisis and homelessness are not the same crisis ... All the numbers have been going in the wrong direction for a long time .’
RICK HENDERSON
There was talk of ending homelessness through housebuilding – ‘ but this takes ages . What happens between now and then ?’ The new government had said it would set up an interministerial crossdepartmental task force , but it hadn ’ t happened yet . ‘ It would be nice to work in partnership with government and give it a chance after an adversorial relationship ,’ he said .
In any case we couldn ’ t ‘ put all our eggs in a housebuilding basket ’ – we needed to look at why people were coming into this situation in the first place and realise that there was much more we could do on a prevention-focused approach .
‘ Their needs are as important as a roof ,’ he said . ‘ Politicians are not convinced by this – they don ’ t get it or realise the huge amount of work we need to do . You can ’ t have housing without support .’ Talk of a taskforce chaired by Angela Rayner gave him hope that there was ‘ a lot to play for ’. But we needed to ditch the ‘ heavy handed , patronising approach to responsibility ’ – the view that ‘ you need to pay your rent before you do anything else .’
Rebecca Sycamore had worked for 25 years in the homelessness sector and was now CEO of Toynbee Hall . In 1898 the charity had set up one of the first services to give free legal advice to tenants so they could challenge their landlords . By the 1920s they provided hostels for people with many different backgrounds .
Rent arrears were the most common debt type contributing to the housing crisis , and there was a ‘ ticking time bomb ’ of people with massive debts . ‘ We have to do more than emergency support – we need more powerful pieces of work bringing people together ,’ she said .
When Toynbee Hall was founded , many people didn ’ t have the vote and there weren ’ t any trade unions . But where housing was concerned , progress had been slow and things hadn ’ t changed fast enough , right down to having somewhere basic to live . ‘ Promises are not houses ,’ she said .
Participants agreed that the situation would only improve with a mindset of collaboration between services that were willing to listen , be flexible and compromise . DDN
Pictured , l-r : Riikka Perälä , Rick Henderson and Rebecca Sycamore
16 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • OCTOBER 2024 WWW . DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS . COM