Ending homelessness and rough sleeping: action plan

The importance of lived experience

Everything starts and ends with the voice of lived experience, grounded in responding to homeless people with dignity and respect.

Aye We Can^[3] reports the findings of a programme of engagement with 425 people across Scotland to gain insight into their direct experiences of homelessness. These are the issues that matter to them:

The best way to end homelessness is to stop it happening in the first place.

Having a safe affordable home of your own in an area you want to live is an absolute priority for people. To achieve this, there needs to be enough affordable housing for everyone that needs it and the private rented sector should be safe and secure.

It can be very difficult for people to live in bed and breakfast accommodation, particularly when they have multiple needs as it’s harder to maintain recovery or avoid reoffending.

Services need to be organised in such a way that people experiencing homelessness can expect an urgent and person-centred response. Responses must be housing-led with access to local support, making sure a safe, secure home with support is provided as soon as possible.

Staff need to be well informed and, where necessary, well trained in responding to trauma, addictions and mental ill-health. Staff should be supported to develop skills and adopt values of being understanding, approachable and adaptable, in order to work alongside people to build confidence, self-esteem and trusting relationships.

“I need to build up that trusting relationship with staff first before I feel ready to talk or accept support.”
Family Homelessness Focus Group

Support needs to be flexible and responsive to changes in individuals’ circumstances and a focus on transition periods (e.g. leaving care, hospital, prison, military) should be used as an opportunity to prevent homelessness. We must make sure that support is available for everyone who needs it, including vulnerable children and young people.

Collaboration between joined-up services across physical and mental health, housing, addictions services and others, as well as people with lived experience of homelessness, is essential to designing and delivering effective services.

We need to get better at knowing how many people are actually homeless and using the information to deliver housing and support.

We believe it is possible to end homelessness: to become a country where rough sleeping is eradicated, and where everyone has a home that suits their needs.

“There’s a lot of hidden rough sleeping in closes and sofa surfing.”
Ayrshire and South Hub

“We need personalised services – my two workers from housing and housing support have worked hard together and got me a good outcome.”
Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders – Hub