Dundee to ‘fast-track’ homeless into permanent housing

Homeless people in Dundee will be ‘fast-tracked’ into permanent housing to cut the amount of time they spend in temporary accommodation such as hostels.

The Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan has been developed jointly by Dundee City Council, the Dundee Health and Social Care partnership, registered social landlords, third sector and other partner agencies, and will be supported with £51m of Scottish Government funding.

Kevin Cordell convener of Dundee City Council’s neighbourhood services committee said: ‘We are already one of five pathfinder councils in Scotland for the Housing First model which puts more focus on early intervention and support, finding out why people become homeless and developing ways to address that.

‘The Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan takes that a stage further by acknowledging that when people do become homeless we need a partnership approach to ensuring that the time they spend in temporary accommodation is kept to an absolute minimum.

‘However when temporary accommodation is needed the best type is mainstream, furnished within a community.’

Bryan Smith from Dundee’s Housing First support consortium added: ‘Housing First Dundee is an innovative programme that will work positively and proactively with those that have had difficulty in engaging with traditional housing and support services due to a variety of complex needs.

‘It is an exciting opportunity to give participants hope and end the revolving door of homelessness.  The first tranche of participants will move into their tenancies in early 2019.’

Councilors are expected to approve the plan on Monday (January 7).

A report published last year by David Goldie of The Highland Council argued that councils should bypass temporary accommodation to tackle homelessness.

It said due to the transient nature of temporary accommodation, it is harder for the homeless to address their needs as it creates a ‘snakes and ladders’ pathway to independent living.