Andrew Moore, Cambridgeshire Housing First Service Manager, discusses the benefits of having a space to collaborate on and advocate for Housing First and invites Housing First leads to join the Community of Practice.
In November 2024, I attended an online workshop facilitated by Homeless Link which introduced the Housing First Fidelity Assurance Framework and action planning. During the breakout sessions, I met with leads from Newcastle, Liverpool, London and Bristol and found their experiences of running Housing First services very enlightening.
The workshop inspired me to set up a regular meeting with the colleagues I had met, and other Housing First leads, where we could share best practice and solutions to challenges we all face.
We agreed that, as busy people, if we were to add another meeting into our already packed diaries then these should begin as informal, with no expectation for people to attend every time.
We held our first Community of Practice meeting online in January 2025 and have since met roughly every two months. So far, we have had attendance from Cambridge, Newcastle, Liverpool, London, Bristol, North Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, varying between three and six people.
The meeting is an hour long, with no fixed agenda – just an opportunity to hear from each other and share experiences. We try to have a theme for each meeting, such as funding or measuring outcomes, but usually the conversations end up moving in a different direction. It has also been a useful space for more established services to support newer services in their development with thinking around delivery.
One topic that I have been keen to explore is the relevance and profile of Housing First within central government. In A National Plan to End Homelessness (December 2025), the government committed to continuing Housing First delivery through existing funding streams and framed the model as part of an integrated homelessness system. The government recognises Housing First as an effective intervention for people facing multiple disadvantage, particularly entrenched rough sleepers, but understands that other pathways are also required to meet the vagaries of homelessness.
As Housing First leads, we feel strongly that Housing First would benefit from being funded as a standalone national programme to enhance the good outcomes it achieves for and with people experiencing homelessness. Currently it continues to be supported indirectly through grants such as the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) and the new Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant (HRSDAG). With no commitment to a national, universal rollout – or a definition of Housing First as a main route to ending homelessness – funding remains short term and precarious at best. This cautious approach backs the model but avoids structural commitment at a national scale.
Getting buy-in from new registered providers remains a challenge. Those providers already working in partnership can see the benefit of the ongoing support that Housing First provides. The support follows the individual from provider to provider, if needed, and is open ended. This, along with staff having small caseloads and a holistic approach, are just some of elements that make Housing First different from the traditional staircase model of hostels, supported living and tenancy sustainment.
It is vital that everyone working in Housing First continues to talk about these differences and challenge some of the myths – such as it only being an approach that works with a certain cohort of people, or that it is expensive to run. By continuing to collaborate and share effective ways of working, we can shine a light on Housing First and keep it front and centre in everyone’s minds when solutions are being sought at all levels of government to end the devastating impacts of homelessness.
The Community of Practice is one place where we can do this, and we would like to expand the group to include more members. Moving forward the space could be used to focus on system change or any topic that members feel would be useful to discuss. The next session is scheduled for 16 July.
If you are a Housing First lead and would like to come to a Community of Practice, please get in touch with Andrew Moore: andrew.moore@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.
