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Around 90,000 could be “experiencing the worst forms of homelessness” in London by 2026, new research reveals.
The Committee today (2nd April) heard Hannah Gousey, policy and public affairs manager, Crisis, say those ‘worst forms’ included sleeping in tents or cars, on public transport, in hostels or sofa-surfing.
In 2016, the count was 60,000.
Against this background, the committee debated a future for Housing First in London beyond on-going pilot schemes and the potential for a cross-capital service.
Members heard that, with an estimated 3,500 currently eligible for Housing First services, London needs £84m to make that service effective – and an all-in buy-in to the concept from the boroughs and housing associations.
But it seems there’s no new Mayor of London funding coming for Housing First in the capital until pilot projects have been evaluated.
Nor will MHCLG be committing further funding to Housing First until evaluation is complete – that’s a three-year wait.
Gousey told the committee that any future for Housing First in London – as part of an overall initiative against homelessness – depended on consistency across the boroughs on the “fidelity” of the model.
Acknowledging existing evidence as inconclusive, Gousey stressed that, to make Housing First work effectively, it should take funding that wouldn’t materialise into cashable savings over the short-term – but rather over the long-term, which would prove its worth.
The committee took an opinion on the differences between Housing First and other related initiatives.
Housing First got ahead on its work with “complex cases”, but there was broad acceptance of its need to be part of a wider system geared toward “rapid re-housing” in the capital and not the single solution.
There were questions asked over the reliance on PRS over the application of Housing First in London, with all the inherent challenges.
Mark Taylor, assistant director of services, The Single Homeless Project, said initiatives couldn’t afford accommodation in the boroughs against “incredible” competition.
The key issue, the committee heard, lay in maintaining the “purity” of the Housing First model – with its basis in tenancies for life – in a commissioning-led UK environment.
Housing First needed longer-term funding and longer-term contracting to be done to scale, and, at present there was a risk of funding ending just as client trust was gained, the committee heard.
There was scope seen, too, in greater partnership work towards multi-agency provision – with specific input from the boroughs and housing associations pitched as vital to on-going feasibility studies.
As with so much else in housing, the application of Housing First in London is, the committee heard, dependent on extent of stock – and a need not to get “hung up” on definitions.
The Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) 2017/18 Annual Report shows an increase in the number of rough sleepers in London that can be defined as chronically homeless.
The numbers of people seen rough sleeping across a minimum of two years has risen from 2,474 (32% of rough sleepers) in 2014/2015 to 3,028 (40% of rough sleepers) in 2017/18.
There is strong evidence that Housing First provides positive outcomes for tenancy sustainment and improved quality of life among service users.
However, as acknowledged to the committee, evidence of the outcomes for drug and alcohol misuse among Housing First service users is more mixed.
There is also some debate as to whether Housing First offsets the cost of chronic homelessness and whether it is the most appropriate type of service design for a chronically homeless person.
A Housing First Report, commissioned by St Mungo’s, suggested that Housing First needs to be part of a wider homeless strategy with a range of homelessness services to meet the diverse needs of homeless people.
In London there are small-scale Housing First programmes running in 11 boroughs run by homeless service providers and supported by councils.
The previous Mayor funded three Housing First pilots, from 2012-2015, and the current Mayor provided a grant to Richmond and Wandsworth Housing First service in November 2016.
In the Rough Sleeping Plan of Action released in June 2018, the Mayor’s Office states that £316m of funding from the government is needed over the next five years to fund a number of initiatives to tackle rough sleeping in the capital.
One of the schemes that would be funded by this money is a pan-London Housing First initiative.
The Mayor would develop and commission this pan-London Housing First service, working in partnership with housing providers and London’s councils.
