When he launched the three government pilots, Brokenshire said Housing First had “an incredible rate of success” arguing that Housing First projects in Europe have been successful at ending homelessness for at least eight out of 10 people in the scheme.
In Finland, Housing First has played a major role in virtually eradicating street homelessness.
But rollout has been too slow in the UK, according to Crisis chief executive Matt Downie, even though there are scores of smaller Housing First projects beyond the big three.
The results from the government-backed pilots have been encouraging.
Government analysis, published at the start of 2024, found that 92% of service users were living in long-term, mostly social rented, accommodation after a year.
People involved in the pilot reported feeling less lonely, safer and were significantly less likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system.
The study also showed that the pilots require long-term support to make an impact on employment. Just 4% of service users were in paid work only a further 3% were looking for work or expecting to be in work in the next six months.
Meanwhile, the proportion of people in the pilots claiming disability benefits rose from 33% to 56% in the space of a year as the programme allowed people to become more aware of what they were entitled to.
Writing for the Big Issue, Alex Smith is the Housing First Lead at Homeless Link called for the government to spend £150m a year funding Housing First at scale until the end of the current parliament.
She said: “For those who may be sceptical about the cost effectiveness of Housing First, the pilot cost benefit analysis shows an average spend of £7,700 per person per year, with long-term savings estimated to be £15,880 per person per year, concluding that ‘the pilots have delivered good value for money’.”
If Labour wants Housing First to help people who are sleeping rough to transition into employment as part of its plan to get Britain working, it will need a long-term commitment.
It remains to be seen whether Labour will make that commitment. Particularly as Housing First requires heavy investment in support workers and accommodation. You can’t Housing First without housing first, as the Finns put it, and a shortage of housing in the UK means finding places for people to live is expensive.
Part of the Finnish success also came down to a wider philosophical shift towards Housing First, bringing together different sectors of society around housing, health and more to buy into the model. That has been replicated in Scotland where Housing First has become the default response to rough seeping for 26 local authorities in the country.
Government statistics show an estimated 1,820 Housing First tenancies have started across Scotland as of 31 March 2024 with zero evictions.
Greater Manchester is looking to follow suit in embedding a Housing First philosophy in the region.
A new Housing First Unit launched in September, which research from Greater Manchester Combined Authority suggested could save some of its almost £75m temporary accommodation bill.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: “The £75m our councils are spending on these rents is just the tip of the iceberg. It doesn’t include the cost of finding that housing, let alone the human toll of living in such an insecure situation.
“Our reliance on temporary accommodation has left thousands of families in a limbo that is blighting their life chances and damaging their health and wellbeing. Living in a hostel or B&B makes it harder to cook healthy meals, do homework, hold down a job, see friends and family or visit a doctor when you need to.
“Our Housing First Unit will work to make sure that everyone in Greater Manchester has a home that is safe, secure and sustainable. Giving everyone a good, safe home would be one of the best investments the country could make and would take pressure off other public services and public finances.”
Labour were rumoured to be considering a commitment to Housing First in their pre-election manifesto, while Angela Rayner is fronting a new cross-government homelessness group.
The government has opened the door to more Housing First programmes as part of its £1bn funding commitment to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping this year.
Ministers pledged funding to streamline funding structures to make it easier for councils to spend into services, including Housing First, as part of wider mission moving towards preventing homelessness.
If they are going to commit to Housing First for the future, they better act fast.
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