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Housing First England

The Housing First England project has been working to support and grow a national movement of Housing First services since 2016, improving the lives of some of society's most vulnerable people.

Housing First England aims to:

Identify and produce practical solutions to the barriers to implementing Housing First at scale.
Create the optimum political and operational foundations for a national roll-out of Housing First.
Support organisations to create and develop excellent Housing First services in line with the Principles for Housing First in England.
To grow the evidence for the efficacy of Housing First across a range of housing markets, commissioning arrangements and sectors.
To promote Housing First as one of a wider range of housing led solutions that can help to end homelessness.

In 2019, Homeless Link was joined by Crisis to deliver the current stage of the project.

The picture of Housing First in England

Our most recent research report, The Picture of Housing First in England 2020, reveals a remarkable growth in Housing First across the country - a tripling of the number of services since 2017 serving six times more people facing multiple disadvantage.

By outlining current Housing First provision and exploring variation in delivery of the approach, the research shows us where progress is being made and highlights the opportunities and challenges we face, helping us to identify new areas for focus as we work to make Housing First available for everyone who needs it.

Explore the research.

Visit the Housing First England website

The Housing First England website brings together the most practical and up to date information and resources on Housing First, and shares the stories of residents, which demonstrate the real impact of this accommodation model.

Visit hfe.homeless.org.uk to find out more.

Get involved

We are keen to hear from you, whether you are already delivering Housing First in England, planning a new project, or are interested in finding out more. Keep up to date with our news or get in touch:

Housing First England is made possible with funding from Comic Relief, The Nationwide Foundation and Crisis.

Housing First in England - The Principles

We have developed the principles required for commissioning, designing and delivering a Housing First service in England, to support a national Housing First movement and ensure that positive client outcomes are achieved.