Housing First gained a reputation for being the solution to homelessness, particularly after its success in Finland. It’s never been quite that simple, of course – there’s no one-size-fits-all. But the Housing First model – giving someone a home alongside support for as long as they need – has been proven to work in countless studies. So why hasn’t it conquered the globe?

Scotland and Wales have made Housing First a big part of their response to homelessness – 1,820 tenancies in Scotland and 792 tenancies in Wales have been started with people remaining indoors in around 90% of cases. In England, there are a number of small-scale Housing First schemes but the three big government projects – in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham – remain pilots, despite debuting in 2018.

That’s not

See Full Page