A survey by the EU housing organisation Feantsa found every EU country in the midst of a crisis of homelessness and housing exclusion, with the exception
of Finland, where they give homeless people permanent housing as soon as they become
homeless, rather than muddling along with various services that may eventually
result in an offer of accommodation. This approach is now being considered in
the UK.
What is Housing First?
Housing First focuses on ending homelessness instead of managing it, by offering permanent housing and needs-based support for
homeless people instead of temporary accommodation in hostels or emergency
shelters. Permanent housing means an independent rental flat with own rental
contract. People do not have to earn their right to housing by proving their
capability to manage their lives. Instead, they are provided with a stable home
and individually tailored support.
How has it worked in Finland?
Since 2008 the national homelessness strategy in Finland has been based
on the Housing First model, as a result of dedicated cooperation between the
state, municipalities and NGOs. Investments have been made to provide
affordable housing and shelters have been converted into supported housing
units. For example, the Y-Foundation provides 16,300 low cost flats to homeless
people in Finland.
New services and methods of help have been developed to match the
multiple needs of individual tenants. Finland has all but eradicated rough
sleeping and sustainably housed a significant number of long-term homeless
people, and is the only country in Europe where the number of homeless
people has declined in recent years.
Has there been any backlash to Housing First?
There was a strong political will to find new solutions for
homelessness. There were a few local reactions concerning the location of new
service facilities, which were mainly overcome by open interaction with the
neighbourhoods.
Financially, how does Housing First work?
The key things are affordable housing and support. Extra funding that
the state has allocated for flats and services has been an incentive for the
municipalities to implement Housing First. Tenants pay rent and are entitled to
receive housing benefits. Depending on their income, they may contribute to the
cost of the services. The rest is covered by the municipalities. They provide
the support themselves or buy support from other service providers, mainly from
the NGOs. Stable living conditions enable the use of mainstream services
instead of using expensive emergency services, saving money in the long term.
Were there any initial problems that needed to be ironed out?
No major problems were met: there was a clear focus for the national strategy from the start, and the city specific implementation plans included
concrete objectives and resources to meet them. But the unconditional housing was hard to accept by some people in NGOs
which had previously been working with different set of values.
How easily can the model be replicated in other European countries?
The Housing First model can be replicated even though housing
conditions may vary from country to country in Europe. Providing permanent
homes for the homeless should be a target instead of temporary solutions.
There is no quick fix to all life situations but a solid base provides
the foundations upon which to improve the welfare of the homeless. The first
step in change is the change in attitudes.
In Finland this has been a national strategy, not a local project. This
new approach and convincing results have raised broad interest internationally.
Source: BBC website What can the UK learn from how Finland solvedhomelessness? Published on 22 March 2017.
