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Ending rough sleeping: Metro Mayors join forces to call for extension of Housing First
Metro Mayors for Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester and West Midlands have joined forces to call for an extension of the Government’s successful Housing First pilot scheme for tackling homelessness.
Steve Rotheram, Andy Burnham and Andy Street all share the same ambition to end rough sleeping and believe that the three Housing First pilots in their areas have been making a significant contribution to achieving this. Figures show that 96% of people on the pilots had slept rough at some point in their lives and a quarter before they were 18 years old.
The three Mayors will be speaking at a stakeholder event [Wednesday 28 July] with more than 200 delegates from across the pilot areas and will be joined by Housing and Rough Sleeping Minister, Eddie Hughes MP. They want the Government to extend funding for the pilots and for the Comprehensive Spending Review to include cross-departmental sustainable funding to ensure people on the programmes are supported and don’t risk returning to rough sleeping.
There are an estimated 1,018 people across the pilot programmes who will need support when the funding ends. A meeting of the cross-party All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing First last week also backed calls for an extension of the pilots.
Traditional homeless services (and health and support services) do not work for many people who are rough sleeping with complex needs. That is why some individuals continue to sleep rough or move around the system. A person-centred and trauma-informed approach is a better way of supporting these individuals which is what Housing First offers through on-going intensive support. This also means that the number of people more likely to stay in their homes and not end up back on the streets is considerably higher in Housing First programmes compared to other programmes and it represents value for money.
The three pilots have worked with 1,245 individuals. Of those, 812 people have been housed in secure tenancies with an 87% tenancy sustainment rate.
As well as providing a home, Housing First supports individuals with health issues and disabilities. Forty-five percent of people interviewed for the national evaluation of the pilots reported having difficulties with their mental health before the age of 16, with a further third (33%) between the ages of 16 and 25. Forty-nine percent had a physical health issue and 74% had a dual diagnosis. Thirty-one percent had a disability.
Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said:
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