225 homes to be offered to region’s rough sleepers West Midlands given £10m to pilot ‘Housing First’ project
THE West Midlands is to receive £9.6 million to try to end the crisis of rough sleeping blighting our streets.
The money will be used to buy 225 properties to house rough sleepers and get them off the streets into stable accommodation. The number of rough sleepers in the West Midlands has shot up since 2010.
This week Housing Secretary James Brokenshire announced the West Midlands had been chosen as one of three areas to run pilot schemes based on an approach called Housing First, which has been successful in other parts of Europe.
Rather than simply placing people into shelters, it aims to give rough sleepers a permanent stable home and address.
This involves identifying and helping with the problems that contributed to them ending up on the streets in the first place. In some cases this can include mental illness or drug use.
Projects in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and the West Midlands Combined Authority will offer individuals intensive support to recover from complex health issues.
Mr Brokenshire said: “The evidence shows Housing First has an incredible rate of success in providing rough sleepers with the support they need to get off the streets and to rebuild their lives. We are investing more than £1.2 billion to break the homelessness cycle, but we know there’s more to do to help people off the streets for good.
“I believe these pilots will have a positive impact in their areas and I look forward to hearing about their successes over the coming months.”
Housing First projects in other parts of Europe have been successful at ending homelessness for at least eight out of ten people in the scheme.
This is compared to hostel-based accommodation which has resulted in between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of users with complex needs leaving, or ejected, before their homelessness is resolved.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street visited Finland in 2017 to see Hous- ing First in action. The mayor had been lobbying the Government to ensure the West Midlands was one of the pilot areas for the scheme.
Mr Street said: “Having seen Housing First in action in Helsinki, I can vouch for positive impact it has on supporting rough sleepers and was determined we trial it here in the West Midlands.
“In essence, it gives an opportunity for people who are homeless for a new start – an apartment or shared house – somewhere they can call home. And from there they will be given services to help them rebuild their lives.
“Now the funding has been confirmed we can work with charities and local authorities who are working to support rough sleepers on getting the pilot up and running.
“The latest West Midlands figures suggest a modest decrease in the last 12 months in the West Midlands, I hope the funding for projects like Housing First will help us continue this progress as quickly as possible.”
Councillor Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “We welcome the announcement of the funding for the West Midlands Combined Authority Housing First bid.
“Birmingham has long recognised the value of the Housing First model which provides a housing solution for the most vulnerable people facing homelessness in our city.
“We are pleased to be leading the development of the bid alongside our local authority partners.”