The communities secretary has confirmed to Inside Housing that the government is looking to “support” a study in Liverpool into making Housing First the default approach to tackling rough sleeping with the Department for Communities and Local Government agreeing to part-fund the project. Mr Javid also said he aims to end rough sleeping, but did not set a timescale, marking the first time this government has set such a goal.
Housing First involves providing individuals with permanent housing, combined with personalised support, rather than the default UK system where people often have to prove they are ‘housing ready’ before accessing stable accommodation.
It has had huge success in countries such as Finland, where it has all but eliminated street-sleeping.