Region could trial move to house addicts

THE West Midlands should trial a new scheme to give houses to homeless drug users before they tackle their addiction, according to West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.

Mr Street launched a bid for the West Midlands to host a radical new government pilot scheme to tackle the rough sleeping crisis.

The scheme, known as Housing First, would see up-front investment in homes for rough sleepers, who would be handed permanent accommodation before they tackle drug or alcohol abuse, or mental health problems.

The government currently adopts a ‘treatment first’ approach, where the homeless must show they are undergoing treatment for an addiction before they can be given permanent accommodation.

The bid comes after an explosion in the number of homeless people on Birmingham’s streets in the past five years. At least three homeless men have died in the past nine months on city centre streets, one of them in a car park on John Bright Street on the coldest night of 2016.

Under the new scheme, trailblazed by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, people would no longer have to prove they are ‘housing ready’ to get a stable and permanent address.

Bromsgrove MP Mr Javid visited Finland earlier this year, where the policy has been successfully introduced.

Finland is one of the only EU countries not to be considered to have a homelessness crisis.

A study last year by charity Shelter found that 9,560 people were homeless in Birmingham, with the total for the region standing at 16,100.

Mayor Street told the Birmingham Post that although the scheme “wasn’t a silver bullet”, he believed it could go a huge way to tackling homelessness in the region.

“Sajid Javid has said that he is planning to introduce Housing First in this country,” he said.

“This is an approach first introduced in Finland and places homeless people in permanent housing before they become afflicted by issues such as addiction and mental illness.

“It removes any initial complicated tests, and in essence trusts individuals to turn a corner independently, with support provided further down the line.

“It has been proven to work in Finland and I want Sajid to use the West Midlands as a pilot scheme. We are currently in talks to secure this.

“I truly believe the West Midlands Homelessness Task Force, and the commitment to a plan that looks at the causes of rough sleeping, puts us in the position to win this from Government. I know we could make it work.

“This isn’t a silver bullet but, if successful, people would be able to see a real difference.”