Mayor urges ministers to ‘get behind housing first’

West Midlands mayor Andy Street has told the government to ‘get behind housing first’ and roll it out across the country.

Speaking to the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for ending homelessness, Mr Street revealed nearly 300 rough sleepers had been helped off the streets and into their own accommodation thanks to the West Midlands scheme.

He told the group how the West Midlands pilot, which is led by local authorities, had helped some of the most entrenched individuals with a long history of rough sleeping in the region off the streets – and these vulnerable individuals had placed their trust in the scheme and stuck with it.

As well as providing a home for rough sleepers to call their own, Housing First provides the wrap-around support individuals need to re-build their lives and stay in their accommodation. In the West Midlands residents are also given a small budget to make their new homes their own thanks to pilot funding and money donated through the Change into Action scheme.

It is estimated homelessness costs the UK between £20,000 – £25,000 a year per person, whereas the cost of putting a person through the housing girst scheme is thought to be around £14,000 a year.

But despite this the government has not yet committed to the scheme permanently, instead focusing on three trials in the West Midlands, Liverpool, and Manchester.

‘The success of the housing first scheme in the West Midlands is clear for all to see, and has contributed to us reducing the number of rough sleepers across the region – particularly in Birmingham where we faced a significant challenge,’ said Mr Street.

‘With this success in mind, and a huge challenge around homelessness emerging because of the coronavirus pandemic, now is the time for the government to commit to this scheme long-term, rolling it out across the country and integrating it as part of the UK’s housing strategy.’

The mayor finished by saying: ‘This is working, it is a breakthrough, and as a country we need to get behind it and roll it out.’

Photo Credit – West Midlands Combined Authority