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West Midlands housing associations commit to Housing First
Housing associations in the West Midlands are backing new metro mayor Andy Street’s campaign against rough sleeping with a commitment to Housing First.
At a working group last month, housing associations, charities and representatives from public services met with Mr Street to discuss plans for tackling homelessness, including making homes available for a Housing First programme.
Inside Housing’s Cathy at 50 campaign is calling on the government and the sector to institute such schemes around the country
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Housing First, which entails putting rough sleepers directly into accommodation and then providing further support, has almost entirely eliminated rough sleeping in Finland.
Kevin Rodgers, chief executive of West Midlands Housing Group, told Inside Housing: “Tackling street homelessness is one of the mayor’s priorities. We were really encouraged after the election, when his first public visit was to [youth homelessness charity] St Basils in Birmingham.
“The sense we’ve had both before and after the election was that the mayor and the mayor’s office were going to engage with us very widely. I think the role of the mayor has the potential to look coherently across housing issues and homelessness issues.”
A total of 289 people were sleeping rough in the West Midlands in 2016, according to figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government, up from 249 in 2015. They account for 23% of England’s rough sleepers and Birmingham is in the top 10 local authorities with the highest numbers of rough sleepers.
All major parties have now backed Housing First, and housing associations in Manchester have promised to make homes available for the programme.
