Housing First monitoring report: year one quarter four

This report captures data for Housing First tenancies which started in Scotland from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.

Key Points

• A total of 83 new Housing First tenancies started between 1 January and 31 March 2022. A further 11 tenancies had begun between July and December 2021 which had not been captured in previous reports. This brings the total number of Housing First tenancies which started since 1 April 2021 to 318.
• There are currently 310 Housing First tenancies:
  • Eight tenancies have ended.
• 14 tenancies are in the ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ phase.[1]
• Within the 310 Housing First tenancies there are 318 adults and 18 children. Additionally, 36 households had access to 53 children but do not have full-time custody.
• Between 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, it has taken an average of 181 days for a Housing First participant to move into a permanent tenancy from the referral date.
• 30% of Housing First participants move into their tenancy within 50 days.
• 94% of Housing First households are single people.
• 43% of participants are aged 35-49.
• 70% of participants are receiving support from the third and independent sector.

14 Housing First participants are employed on a full time, part time or voluntary basis.  

Housing First across Scotland

From responses received through the monitoring framework, 24 local authorities are operating a Housing First programme at 31 March 2022. A further three local authorities are currently developing Housing First programmes, due to start by 30 June 2022.[2]

The remaining five local authorities are not currently planning on delivering a Housing First programme due to scale or they have an alternative existing support programme in place.

This monitoring report captures Housing First tenancies which have begun across all 24 local authorities who are currently delivering Housing First.

Tenancies

83 new Housing First tenancies started across 20 local authorities between 1 January and 31 March 2022. An additional 11 tenancies began between July and December 2021 which had not been previously captured in this monitoring framework. This brings the total number of Housing First tenancies started to 318 between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. All tenants have moved into a permanent tenancy and are not in temporary accommodation. Eight tenancies have now ended and 14 people have now moved into the ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ phase of Housing First.

Table A: Total number of tenancies started in each local authority in 2021/22 at 31 March 2022

Local Authority Number of Tenancies Scotland 318 Glasgow City 45 Aberdeenshire 33 West Dunbartonshire 28 North Lanarkshire 25 Renfrewshire 25 Midlothian 22 North Ayrshire 21 Stirling 15 Falkirk 14 Fife 13 Dundee City 10 City of Edinburgh 10 South Lanarkshire 9 Inverclyde 8 Angus 6 Dumfries & Galloway 6 South Ayrshire 6 Scottish Borders 5 West Lothian 5 Western Isles <5[3] Aberdeen City <5 East Ayrshire <5 East Lothian <5 Highland <5

Information was gathered on whether or not households had a homelessness application (HL1) and/or Housing Options (PREVENT1) approach recorded. Data shows that 93% of Housing First participants had a homelessness application, and 65% had a Housing Options approach recorded.

Household characteristics

The data for this section is based on the main Housing First participant in live, ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ tenancies which began between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.

Gender     

Across the 310 live, ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ tenancies, 67% of the main Housing First tenants are male. The remaining 33% are either female or identified as ‘other’.[4]

Chart 1: The household composition of Housing First tenancies.

• Single Male- 65%
• Single Female- 29%
• Single Parent- Female- 2%
• Other- 2%
• Couple- 2%

94% of Housing First households are single people. As the number of Housing First participants grows across Scotland, a more detailed breakdown of household composition is possible in comparison to earlier reports.

Residing within the 310 households were 318 adults and 18 children. Additionally, 36 households had access to 53 children but do not have full-time custody.

Age

Chart 2: Age of main Housing First participant at tenancy start date.

• 16-24- 18%
• 25-34- 27%
• 35-49- 43%
• 50-64- 11%

There are no Housing First participants over the age of 65.

Ethnicity

Chart 3: Ethnicity of the main Housing First tenant

• White Scottish- 93%
• Other British- 4%
• Other ethnic group- 2%
• White British- 2%

The Housing First participants captured within this report are more ethnically diverse than participants represented in previous monitoring reports. Therefore, a more detailed breakdown of ethnicity is possible. We hope that this will develop as the monitoring framework progresses.

Sexual orientation
Chart 4: Sexual orientation of the main Housing First tenant

• Heterosexual/ Straight- 50%
• Don’t know- 36%
• Prefer not to say- 12%
• Other- 2%

Local authorities have been asked to collect information on the sexual orientation of the main Housing First participant. Due to this data not being collected in some local authorities and the potentially sensitive nature of this question, many responses were initially recorded as unknown as participants build up confidence with support workers to provide this information. The proportion of ‘Don’t know’ or ‘Prefer not to say’ responses has decreased by 7% in comparison to the last report, which is perhaps testament to the development of relationships with Housing First support staff. Where this information is known, 50% have stated that they are heterosexual/straight, and two per cent have stated that their sexual identity is ‘Gay/ Lesbian’, ‘Bisexual’ or ‘Other’, however we are unable to provide this breakdown due to the small numbers within each category.

Disability

Chart 5: Proportion of Housing First participants with a disability.

• No- 76%
• Yes- 23%
• Don’t know- 8%
• Prefer not to say- 2%

The majority of Housing First participants reported that they do not have a disability. However, 10% of responses to this question are unknown/prefer not to say. Similar to the category above, the proportion ‘Don’t know’ or ‘Prefer not to say’ responses is decreasing.

Housing First tenancies

For tenancies which have begun since 1 April 2021, the average length of time between participants being referred for Housing First support and being offered a permanent tenancy is 157 days across the 24 local authorities. This has increased from 142 days in the previous quarterly report. The average time from referral to their permanent tenancy starting has also increased in this reporting period from 164 to 181 days.

Chart 5: Tenancy type or ‘live’, ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ tenancies

• LA Tenancy- 73%
• RSL- 25%
• PRS- 2%

Of the 310 live, ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ tenancies, the proportion of local authority tenancies has decreased slightly from 75% to 73% across this quarter, with 25% being provided by registered social landlords (RSLs). Six tenancies have begun in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), representing two per cent of the total number of tenancies.

Information received from some local authorities shows that in some areas temporary accommodation is converted or ‘flipped’ into permanent Housing First tenancies. Housing First support has also been used as a homelessness prevention method in some local authority areas.

Chart 6: Banded national average in days to access a permanent tenancy from referral date

• 0-50- 30%
• 51-100- 18%
• 101-150- 13%
• 151-200- 9%
• 201-250- 6%
• 251-300- 5%
• 301-350- 5%
• 351-450- 6%
• 451-550- 2%
• 551-650- 2%
• 651-750- 2%
• 751+- 3%

Chart 6 shows that 30% of Housing First participants move into their tenancies within 50 days. This is a slight decrease from the previous quarter when 32% moved into their tenancy within 50 days. The proportion of participants waiting over 350 days has also increased from 11% to 15%. This average has been calculated on a national basis due to the small number of tenancies in some local authority areas at present.

Referral Route

Chart 7: Referral route of Housing First participants.

• Homelessness application- 55%
• Area housing office- 16%
• Other- 9%
• Addiction referral- 6%
• Criminal Justice System- 5%
• Prison- 4%
• Third Sector- 3%
• Through-care/ after-care- 2%

In previous quarterly monitoring reports, this category was broken down across six referral routes. However, as the number of Housing First participants increase, and routes into Housing First become more diverse, we are now able to report across eight referral routes, and hope to give a more detailed breakdown of ‘Other’ in the future.

Housing FIrst support

The data for this section is based on the main Housing First participant in 296 tenancies where support continues to be provided, and the tenancy status ‘Live’. This excludes tenancies which are in the ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ phase.

Local authorities were asked to record the support that each Housing First participant is currently receiving or has previously received. This continues to be an area which yields numbers less than five across a number of categories, therefore information on ‘Current’ and ‘Previous’ support needs have been combined for disclosure control purposes. We expect this to become more robust over time and to be able to separate out previous support needs.

Chart 8: Proportion of Housing First participants with support needs.

Learning Disability	9%
Personal Care	10%
Sexual Health	17%
Literacy	29%
Other	30%
Exploitation	39%
Physical Health	50%
Alcohol	52%
Advocacy	54%
Social Isolation	63%
Criminal Activity	68%
Safety/Security	70%
Drugs	79%
Accessing Benefits	83%
Mental Health	84%
Budgeting	88%
Upkeep of Tenancy	89%
Resettlement	95%
General Housing Support	99%

Chart 8 shows the proportion of participants who were recorded as having a current or previous support need across 19 categories.

Local authorities were also asked to record areas where support was required, but not provided for Housing First participants across the same 19 categories. The data gathered during this reporting period shows that the number of participants who have needs which are not currently being supported has increased from quarter three, as shown in Chart 9.

Chart 9: Proportion of Housing First participants with required support needs which are not provided, compared with quarter three data.

	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Mental Health	3%	4%
Budgeting	2%	3%
Drugs	2%	3%
Literacy	2%	2%
Alcohol	2%	2%
Physical Health	2%	2%
Sexual Health	2%	2%
Personal Care	1%	2%
Social Isolation	1%	2%
Learning Disability	1%	2%

Chart 10: Housing First participants with current multiple support needs.

• Support 1-5 areas- 7%
• Support 6-10 areas- 53%
• Support 11-15 areas- 35%
• Support 16+ areas- 5%

The data shows that over half of people require between six and ten areas of support, with 40% of people requiring over 11 areas of support.

Chart 11: Housing First participants receiving support from each provider, compared with quarter three data.

	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Third and Independent Sector	73%	70%
Health and Social Care Partnerships	58%	55%
Alcohol and Drugs Partnership	51%	54%
Mental Health Service	43%	44%
Other	34%	28%
Peer Support	15%	15%

Chart 11 shows a breakdown of the services involved in delivering support to Housing First tenancies. When compared to the data reported in the previous quarter, Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships and Mental Health Services are involved in the care of comparatively more Housing First Participants during quarter four. As the number of Housing First participants grows across Scotland, a more detailed breakdown of the ‘other’ category will be provided.

Chart 12: Housing First participants receiving support from multiple support providers.

• 0 Support Providers- 3%
• 1 Support Provider- 31%
• 2 Support Providers- 15%
• 3 Support Providers- 17%
• 4 Support Providers- 20%
• 5 Support Providers- 11%
• 6+ Support Providers- 4%

Informal support was also provided for 45% of Housing First participants.

Chart 12 provides detail of the number of partners providing Housing First support. In 31% of Housing First tenancies support was provided solely by one provider, likely where a local authority has undertaken a procurement exercise to commission Housing First support from an external provider. Three per cent of participants were recorded as having no support provider, however a proportion receive informal support.

Employment Status

Eight Housing First participants are currently employed on either a full time or part time basis. In addition, six participants currently undertake voluntary work.