Ending homelessness and rough sleeping: action plan

3 We will end homelessness by prioritising settled housing for all

Homelessness is about so much more than housing, but having a settled home must be seen as a priority for supporting people to live their life with good health, wellbeing and a sense of community and belonging.

It is vital that we embed a housing-led response to homelessness supported by strong partnerships with other public services, and to recognise the importance of settled housing as the foundation for a person to tackle an array of challenges including poverty, addictions, mental health, physical health, learning disability, employment, and avoiding offending and reoffending.

There has been an overall rise of numbers in temporary accommodation since 2002 (see Chart 4^[13]). The number has gradually increased between 2002 and 2011 and this increase was linked to local authorities preparing for the abolition of priority need in December 2012, as required by the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003. Since 2010, this figure has remained relatively stable. There were 10,933 households in temporary accommodation at 31 March 2018.

Chart 4: Households in Temporary Accommodation at 31 March each year

Getting it right in prioritising settled housing for all will make a significant contribution to the person centred approach and is an important part of prevention. Transforming temporary accommodation and ensuring a continued supply of affordable housing will be crucial to rewire the system, and enable a prioritisation of settled housing for all. We want to see a significant shift towards rapid rehousing by default, including Housing First for those it is appropriate for.

Housing First provides ordinary, settled housing as a first response for people with multiple needs. This includes people who have a range of experiences including childhood and early years trauma, domestic abuse, mental ill health, addictions as well as time spent in local authority care or prison. Housing First recognises a safe, secure home is the best base for recovery and for addressing any other issues in your life.

Where homelessness cannot be prevented, rapid rehousing by default means that:

• Someone who is homeless or rough sleeping or at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping should be housed in settled, mainstream accommodation that meets their needs as quickly as possible
• Someone who has complex needs and is homeless or rough sleeping or at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping should be housed in settled, mainstream accommodation that meets their needs – with wraparound support in line with Housing First principles – as quickly as possible
• Someone who is homeless or rough sleeping or at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping for whom rapid rehousing or Housing First would not yet be suitable^[14] should be provided with accommodation that deals with their particular needs with the specialist support that is required

Work on rapid rehousing is already well under way, with every local authority expected to submit a rapid rehousing transition plan by the end of 2018. The research, guidance and toolkit^[15] produced on behalf of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group have provided the framework for this activity. The Rapid Rehousing sub-group of the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group will provide leadership and support to ensure we achieve the shift we want to see to rapid rehousing by default, including the scale up of Housing First, and more specialist support options for those who need it, providing additional capacity to support local areas in this process.^[16]

By 2023 our aim is to have transformed the landscape of temporary accommodation, ensuring that significantly fewer people spend time in temporary accommodation; and that those who do require temporary accommodation spend significantly less time there before moving on to an appropriate settled home, with the support they need in place from day one. We must ensure the right support is in place for people and households who may need temporary accommodation, and we must recognise when this needs to be in place from even before the tenancy commences to ensure that supports such as benefits, furniture and services are in place from the start.

Actions we will take:

We will ensure a national shift towards rapid rehousing by default, including Housing First, to prevent homelessness by prioritising settled housing for all. Every local authority will submit a rapid rehousing transition plan (RRTP) by the end of 2018. These five year transition plans are scheduled to be delivered from April 2019 and all plans will include an equalities impact assessment, to be finalised by March 2019, which will cover all protected characteristics, and additionally assess impact according to socio-economic status. Planning for the shift to rapid rehousing will be supported by £2 million of central funding, and leadership from the Rapid Rehousing sub-group. This will report into the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group who are overseeing the overall implementation of this Action Plan. Changes have been made to the Local Housing Strategy guidance to ensure rapid rehousing and the associated plans are part of the strategic planning framework, along with Strategic Housing Investment Plans.

We will work with local areas to support the transition. By April 2019, all 32 LA RRTPs will be evaluated and feedback will be provided to local areas. This will include confirmation of the distribution of the £15 million being made available to support the implementation of the plans from the five-year Ending Homelessness Together Fund. Throughout 2019 we will work with local authorities and delivery partners to review and support the implementation process, and assist with the changes required to system and culture as we move to adoption of the rapid rehousing approach as the working model in every part of Scotland. We will work with partners to share learning, identifying areas that require further evidence and work, as well as showcasing the approaches shown to achieve results. Key players in this will be the Housing options hubs.

We will work with each local area to support the required shift towards making Housing First available for people with multiple complex needs who are homeless or sleeping rough. Each local rapid rehousing transition plan will include plans for Housing First provision, supporting this shift. When reviewing Transition Plans we will look at the evidence supporting the development of Housing First in local areas.

We will support five Housing First pathfinder cities. As part of the shift required to have Housing First available for everyone who needs it, we are supporting five Housing First pathfinder cities, working in partnership with Social Bite, Glasgow Homelessness Network, Corra and local partners to secure up to 830 Housing First placements between December 2018 and March 2022. Interim and formal evaluation of the Housing First pathfinders will provide new evidence of what works well for a Housing First approach in the Scottish context by 2021. We will ensure learning from both the pathfinder cities and those areas who already have Housing First is shared across all local authorities as they develop Housing First provision in their own context from April 2019, in line with their rapid rehousing transition plans. The Pathfinders are being supported by money raised by Social Bite, combined with up to £6.5 million of resources over three years from the Ending Homelessness Together Fund and money for addictions from the health portfolio of the Scottish Government.

We will seek partnership with health and justice bodies as we embed a Housing First approach for people with multiple complex needs across health, housing and justice to understand the wider impact and reach agreements on a partnership approach. This will include work with public health to deliver the new addictions strategy; and supporting the work of the Health and Justice collaborative in the Scottish Government.

We will support the development of a wider range of options for a settled home so that people housed in temporary accommodation in emergency situations are helped to find a housing solution that works well for them. In 2019 we will highlight best practice examples from rapid rehousing transition plans and share amongst local authorities, and we will create opportunities for local authorities and RSLs (Registered Social Landlords) to promote diversification of move on options. We will work with housing options hubs to consider what changes in local and national policy will help facilitate people in moving into the private rented sector, including consideration of the potential role for social lettings agencies, rent deposit schemes and ‘help to rent’ schemes. We will identify the areas who have had success in allowing people to remain in temporary accommodation on a permanent basis and address any barriers that are preventing this from happening quickly. We will update the Code of Guidance to ensure that regular review periods of housing and associated support are conducted to identify early options for move on.

We will assess the impacts of providing a wide range of options in different local authority areas. We encourage the ability to choose the private rented sector, community hosting and sharing options and identifying and removing barriers that discourage adoption.

We will develop a new funding framework for temporary accommodation. In 2019 we will undertake robust analysis of data gathered from local authorities on the funding of temporary accommodation, also taking account of the data gathered as part of the development of rapid rehousing transition plans. This will support discussions between national and local government in Scotland and the UK Government to explore how the data we have gathered can help develop models for funding temporary accommodation in Scotland. This will be shaped by the extent that financial responsibility rests with Scottish Government and Scottish local authorities. By November 2021, we aim to have developed and implemented changes to the existing funding model. We want to achieve a funding model which helps to tackle poverty by lowering rents and provide people with the opportunity to access employment, training or education as well as supporting rapid move on to a safe, settled home that meets their needs. Through 2022-23 we will evaluate the impacts of the revised model and adjust and refine accordingly, ensuring that the system is not disadvantaging particular individuals and groups and is supporting people to improve outcomes.