Housing First monitoring report: year two quarter two
Housing First quarterly monitoring: July-September 2022
Data collected by the Scottish Government confirms that an estimated 1,333 Housing First tenancies have started across Scotland at 30 September 2022. This report captures data for Housing First tenancies which started from 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2022[1]. Prior to this date, data on Housing First tenancies in the pathfinder areas was independently assessed and published here.
Key points
- A total of 97 new Housing First tenancies started between 1 July and 30 September 2022. One further tenancy had begun between April 2021 and June 2022, which had not been captured in previous reports. This brings the total number of Housing First tenancies which started since 1 April 2021 to 516.
- There are currently 486 Housing First tenancies.
- 30 tenancies have ended (none ended in eviction)
- 41 tenancies are in the ‘step down’ phase, and 11 are in the ‘stand down’ phase.[2]
- Within the 486 Housing First tenancies, there are 496 adults and 53 children. Additionally, 60 households had access to 94 children but do not have full-time custody.
- Between 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2022, it has taken an average of 207 days for a Housing First participant to move into a permanent tenancy from the referral date.
- 28% of Housing First participants moved into their tenancy within 50 days.
- 98% of Housing First households are single people.
- 42% of participants are aged 35-49.
- 68% of participants are receiving support from the third and independent sector.
- 7 Housing First participants are employed on a full time or part time basis, and 7 work on a voluntary basis.
Housing First across Scotland
From responses received through the monitoring framework, 25 local authorities are operating a Housing First programme at 30 September 2022. A further two local authorities are currently developing Housing First programmes, due to start during 2022/23.
The remaining five local authorities are not currently planning on delivering a Housing First programme due to scale or they have an alternative support programme in place.
This monitoring report captures Housing First tenancies which have begun across all 25 local authorities who are currently delivering Housing First.
Tenancies
97 new Housing First tenancies started across 20 local authorities between 1 July and 30 September 2022. An additional tenancy began between April 2021 and June 2022, which had not been previously captured in this monitoring framework. This brings the total number of Housing First tenancies started to 516 between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2022. All tenants are on a permanent tenancy and are not in temporary accommodation. 30 tenancies have now ended; 41 people have now moved into the ‘step down’ phase; and a further 11 are in the ‘stand down’ phase of Housing First.
Table A: Total number of tenancies started in each local authority between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2022 and latest quarterly return.
1 April 21 – 30 September 22 1 July 22 – 30 September 22
Local Authority Tenancies Local Authority Tenancies
Scotland 516 Scotland 97
Glasgow City 67 Renfrewshire 16
Renfrewshire 52 Glasgow City 14
Aberdeenshire 49 North Ayrshire 9
North Lanarkshire 40 North Lanarkshire 9
West Dunbartonshire 38 Aberdeenshire 6
North Ayrshire 34 Midlothian 6
Midlothian 33 West Dunbartonshire 6
Dundee City 23 Dundee City 5
City of Edinburgh 20 City of Edinburgh <5
Fife 20 Fife <5
Stirling 18 Moray <5
Aberdeen City 18 Stirling <5
Falkirk 18 Inverclyde <5
South Lanarkshire 16 South Ayrshire <5
Inverclyde 14 South Lanarkshire <5
South Ayrshire 9 Aberdeen City <5
Angus 8 Angus <5
Dumfries & Galloway 8 East Ayrshire <5
West Lothian 7 Highland <5
East Ayrshire 6 West Lothian <5
Western Isles 6
Scottish Borders 5
Moray <5 [3]
Highland <5
East Lothian <5
Information was gathered on whether or not households had a homelessness application (HL1) and/or Housing Options (PREVENT1) approach recorded. Data shows that 94% of Housing First participants had a homelessness application, and 73% had a Housing Options[4] 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 30 September 2022.
Gender
Across the 486 ‘live’, ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ tenancies, 64% of the main Housing First tenants are male and 36% are female[5].
Chart 1: The household composition of Housing First tenancies.
- Single Male 63%
- Single Female 32%
- Single Parent- Female 3%
- Other 1%
- Couple 1%
Chart 1 note: 95% of Housing First households are single people. ‘Single Parent’ includes both Male and Female data.
Residing within the 486 households were 496 adults. Within 30 Housing First tenancies there are 53 children. Additionally, 60 households had access to 94 children but do not have full-time custody.
Age
Chart 2: Age of main Housing First participant at tenancy start date.
- 16-17 2%
- 18-24 18%
- 25-34 26%
- 35-49 42%
- 50-64 12%
There are no Housing First participants over the age of 65.
Ethnicity
Chart 3: Ethnicity of the main Housing First tenant
- White Scottish 95.7%
- Other British 2.7%
- Other ethnic group 1.2%
- White British 0.4%
The number of people reporting a ‘White Scottish’ ethnicity has risen by 3.2% compared with ‘White British’, which has fallen by 2.1% since the previous quarterly monitoring report.
Sexual orientation
Chart 4: Sexual orientation of the main Housing First tenant
- Heterosexual/ Straight 53%
- Don’t know 34%
- Prefer not to say 10%
- Gay/Lesbian 2%
- Bi-Sexual 1%
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 have decreased from 60% during the first quarterly report (April 2021 to June 2021), and has maintained around the mid forty percent during the last two quarters. This overall decrease may be testament to the continued development of relationships with Housing First support staff.
Disability
Chart 5: Proportion of Housing First participants with a disability.
- No 67.5%
- Yes 23.3%
- Don’t know 7.8%
- Prefer not to say 1.4%
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 180 days across the 25 local authorities. This has increased from 177 days in the previous quarterly report. The average time from referral to their permanent tenancy has increased slightly in this reporting period from 201 to 207 days.
Chart 6: Tenancy type of ‘live’, ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ tenancies
- LA Tenancy 71%
- RSL 26%
- PRS 3%
Of the 486 ‘live’, ‘step down’ or ‘stand down’ tenancies, the proportion of local authority tenancies has decreased slightly from 72% to 71% over the last reporting period. Registered social landlords (RSLs) have provided a steady proportion of Housing First tenancies, around a quarter of all tenancies over the last three reporting periods. 17 tenancies have begun in either the private rented sector (PRS) or ‘Other’, representing three per cent of the total number of tenancies.
Chart 7: Banded national average in days to access a permanent tenancy from referral date
- 0-50 27.8%
- 51-100 15.8%
- 101-150 10.9%
- 151-200 9.1%
- 201-250 7.4%
- 251-300 6.8%
- 301-350 4.7%
- 351-450 5.8%
- 451-550 2.1%
- 551-650 1.9%
- 651-750 2.3%
- 751+ 5.6%
Chart 7 shows that 27.8% of Housing First participants move into their tenancies within 50 days. This is a slight decrease from the previous quarter when 29% moved into their tenancy within 50 days. The proportion of participants waiting over 350 days has also continued to increase from 15% (April 2021 to March 2022) to 18% (April 2021 to June 2022) and has slightly reduced to 17.5% (April 2021– September 2022). 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 : Referral route of Housing First participants.
- Homelessness application 55%
- Area housing office 14%
- Other 11%
- Addiction referral 6%
- Criminal Justice System 6%
- Third Sector 4%
- Prison 3%
- Through-care/ after-care 1%
Employment status
7 Housing First participants are currently employed on either a full time or part time basis. In addition, 7 participants currently undertake voluntary work.
Housing First support
The data for this section is based on the main Housing First participant in 434 tenancies where support continues to be provided, and the tenancy is ‘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. Given the small numbers in a number of categories, 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 9: Proportion of Housing First participants with support needs.
- General Housing Support 97%
- Resettlement 91%
- Budgeting 90%
- Upkeep of Tenancy 88%
- Accessing Benefits 86%
- Mental Health 82%
- Drugs 75%
- Safety/Security 71%
- Criminal Activity 67%
- Social Isolation 67%
- Advocacy 56%
- Physical Health 51%
- Alcohol 51%
- Exploitation 41%
- Literacy 33%
- Other 26%
- Sexual Health 20%
- Personal Care 10%
- Learning Disability 8%
Chart 9 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. Proportionally fewer Housing First participants have an unmet support need across learning disability and literacy, but 7[6] per cent of participants require mental health support which is not provided. However, as the number of participants who have an unmet support need increases above five, we are able to give a more detailed breakdown of the areas which are lacking in support provision, as shown in Chart 10.
Chart 10: Proportion of Housing First participants with support needs which are not catered for.
- Mental Health 7%
- Drugs 4%
- Other 3%
- Exploitation 3%
- Alcohol 3%
- Learning Disability 3%
- Budgeting 3%
- Social Isolation 3%
- Physical Health 2%
- Advocacy 2%
- Upkeep of Tenancy 2%
- Literacy 2%
- General Housing Support 2%
- Personal Care 1%
- Sexual Health 1%
- Criminal Activity 1%
Chart 10 Note: The ‘Other’ category includes Housing First participants who have unmet support needs across ‘Safety/ Security’, ‘Accessing Benefits’, ‘Resettlement’ and ‘Other’ categories. Due to the small numbers within each area, we are unable to provide a more detailed breakdown.
Chart 11: Housing First participants with current multiple support needs.
- Support 1-5 Areas 11%
- Support 6-10 Areas 47%
- Support 11-15 Areas 38%
- Support 16+ Areas 4%
Support intensity has slightly decreased from the last quarter, with three per cent fewer participants requiring six to ten areas of support, and three percent more participants requiring between eleven and fifteen areas of support.
Chart 12: Housing First participants receiving support from each provider.
- Third and Independent Sector 68%
- Health and Social Care Partnerships 58%
- Alcohol and Drugs Partnership 57%
- Mental Health Service 40%
- Other 23%
- Peer Support 13%
Chart 12 shows a breakdown of the services involved in delivering support to Housing First tenancies. When compared to the data reported in the previous quarter, ‘Mental Health Services’ are involved in the care of comparatively fewer Housing First participants. Similarly, ‘Peer Support’ is in place for comparatively fewer Housing First participants where with Alcohol and Drugs, Health and Social Care there has been a slight increase. As the number of Housing First participants grows across Scotland, a more detailed breakdown of the ‘other’ category will be provided.
Chart 13: Housing First participants receiving support from multiple support providers.
- 0 Support Providers 3%
- 1 Support Provider 30%
- 2 Support Providers 15%
- 3 Support Providers 21%
- 4 Support Providers 16%
- 5 Support Providers 11%
- 6+ Support Providers 4%
Chart 13 note: Informal support was also provided for 42% of Housing First participants.
Chart 13 provides detail of the number of partners providing Housing First support. In 30% 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.
[1] Housing First tenancies which started as part of the Housing First Pathfinder programme from September 2021 have been included in this figure.
[2] The ‘step down’ process involves agreement from the tenant and lead support worker that support is no longer required and a regular check-up process is agreed so that support can re-engage if required. The ‘stand down’ stage occurs when Housing First support is no longer required.
[3] Figures have been rounded to the nearest five for disclosure control purposes.
[4] Housing Options is a process, which starts with housing advice when someone approaches a local authority with a housing problem. This means looking at an individual's options and choices in the widest sense.
[5] This figure includes less than five tenants who have an ‘other’ gender identify.
[6] The previous Housing First Report – Year 2 Quarter 1 (April 2021 – June 22) the unsupported Mental Health figure was incorrectly listed as 2%, this should have been 5%.
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