Progress in Housing First appears to have stalled, but England should be more ambitious in scaling up the intervention nationally and following its philosophy to support all people experiencing homelessness, suggests Alex Smith, Homeless Link’s Housing First lead.
At Homeless Link, we have been long-standing, leading advocates for Housing First, supporting the sector to develop an increasing number of high-fidelity, effective local services, that have ended homelessness for people with some of the most complex needs. We are clear that the intervention should form a core part of the upcoming Homelessness Strategy.
However, while there have been hints of Housing First support from Labour, including manifesto rumblings in 2024 and some key backbench advocates like Paula Barker, since they came into power, we have heard almost nothing on their plans for the model. There is little indication on how – or even if – Housing First will feature in the Homelessness Strategy.
Labour is considering a manifesto pledge to tackle the UK’s homelessness crisis with a national expansion of Housing First, according to reports.
Inside Housing, May 2024
In 2021, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) published Close to Home, calling for a national Housing First programme for England for a minimum of 16,500 people experiencing the sharpest end of homelessness. They, like us, were at the vanguard of the calls for Housing First. In their new report, No Place Like Home, published in July 2025, although still advocating for the model, we see CSJ now promoting a scaling back on the ambition. So, what is next for Housing First?
Housing First works. There is an overwhelming body of evidence, including the Government’s own Pilot’s evaluation. The cost benefit analysis alone shows that the Pilots averaged a spend of £7,700 per person per year, with long-term savings estimated at £15,880 per person per year.
The Pilots have delivered good value for money.
MHCLG 2024
Beyond cost savings, Housing First is actively ending homelessness with some 84% tenancy sustainment rates and has seen some significant improvements beyond homelessness. Homeless Link’s More Than a Roof research showed that after three years, people were more engaged with planned health care, seeing improvement in physical and mental health, reduced drug and alcohol use, and huge reductions in anti-social behaviour and contact with the criminal justice system.
The help just wasn’t there back then, they put you in a hostel, then move you to another hostel, because my lifestyle was manic then, I was addicted to drugs, I haven’t taken them for 5 years now with Housing First, that’s when I first started to stop and change my life.
Housing First resident
The CSJ’s report therefore brings a much needed and welcome spotlight onto Housing First.
Nicolas Pleace, one of the country’s leading Housing First academics, concludes in a recent podcast that the approach is ‘frustratingly do-able’, and yet, we are still grappling with marginal gains as we see the CSJ scale-back its ambitions from a national programme to a much more modest 5,571 places by 2029/2030.
In addition, there are some extremely concerning messages on migration in the report, with calls for eligibility tests for Housing First. Housing First is already over-represented by a white British demographic and, rather than further restricting access to an effective housing and support model, it should be expanded, to ensure that our system works for everyone. Furthermore, the suggested requirement for people to have a local area connection is unhelpful. We have recently seen improvements on local connection rules for veterans, domestic abuse survivors and care leavers experiencing homelessness and, as we know from Housing First experts, maximising flexibility, choice and control are some of the key ingredients that make the model a success.
From 2022, amidst much advocacy from a diverse range of voices, the sector has held its collective breath for long-term, strategic investment in the efforts to end homelessness. With the Rough Sleeper Initiative fund and extension of the Pilot areas from 2022-2025, there was an element of stability, but unlike our neighbours in Scotland and Ireland, we continue to lack a national programme and strategy for Housing First expansion, and now we are seeing the signs of the system cracking under the weight of this lack of leadership and investment.
In Homeless Link’s latest homelessness services review, it was found that:
Housing First is the only reported area to see a decline when compared to previous years.
With large areas such as Birmingham now unable to continue to deliver the model due to funding constraints, never mind marginal gains, there is a potential that we roll back on Housing First progress altogether. But why?
We don’t have to look too far afield to see the success than Housing First can achieve. Finland has almost ended homelessness. It is a European country, different of course, but not entirely dissimilar to England, but with a unique approach. For decades, Finland have embraced the key philosophy that a permanent home is a human right. And a human right that extends to everyone.
In England, and in other countries, rather than being integrated into the homelessness system, Housing First has developed in parallel to other services and interventions. We have scaled up on the premise that it is an expensive model for a specific and limited number of people and must therefore be kept distinct and small. But what if we took Finland’s approach: a move away from a system of temporary housing, and a philosophy of housing, first?
A minimum of 16,450 people require a Housing First approach, but beyond that, we know that a permanent home, with appropriate support, is the only true end to someone’s homelessness. If we aspire to end homelessness, as seen in Finland, rolling back the ever-growing tide of people being pushed into rough sleeping and trapped in temporary and other short-term accommodation, then what we need is greater ambition for Housing First, not a scaling back.
