Recovery Housing in Scotland: Mapping and capacity survey of providers 2022/23

4. Conclusion

The survey found a total of 12 providers offering some form of recovery housing in Scotland, with a combined total maximum capacity of 235 places at 84% full capacity at the time of the survey. Providers varied in their size and structure but broadly fall into two categories based on whether the accommodation they provide is shared with other people in recovery or not. About two thirds (62%, 146 out of 235 places) of the available recovery housing capacity in Scotland is provided in the form of single occupancy flats, with the majority of these places being offered by three providers. While the majority of providers (n=9) offered some form of shared accommodation, this was most commonly for small numbers of people (2 or 3 residents per flat). Only three providers catered for larger numbers (between 5 and 16 people) and they tended to provide more structured support within the house to their residents than the other providers.

The responses highlight the similarity across providers in how they are funded, governed, the demographic of their residents, and day-to-day life in the houses. Facilities differed in their delivery of recovery services and activities, the house structure (shared or single occupancy), and the level of workforce within the house. However, further research is required to better understand how the two categories of recovery housing providers in Scotland may differ in the service they deliver, and in the outcomes they achieve for their residents.

The results of this survey suggest that the term ‘recovery housing’ may not be widely recognised by providers of this type of service in Scotland. The responses to the survey indicate that providers identified more with ‘supported accommodation’ or ‘move-on housing’ than ‘recovery housing’ and suggests there may be a need to use one of these terms in future research and policy making to ensure they are understood.

However, it is clear that providers generally agree on key characteristics that make up these services and that these are in line with how recovery housing is described in the literature. These responses can be used as the starting point for developing a broad definition of recovery housing that is applicable to a Scottish context, such as:

“Recovery housing aims to offer people a safe, supportive and abstinence-based living environment, while receiving support (including peer support) to transition into independent living and sustain their recovery from substance use.”

This proposed definition would benefit from engagement with various stakeholder groups, including people with lived and living experience.

4.1 Considerations for future research

1. The results of this survey provide a basic understanding of the provision of recovery housing for people in recovery from substance use in Scotland. However, further research with providers is required to better understand the level of need and demand for recovery housing; service-user profiles; pathways into, through and out of services; and differences between models (single-occupancy or shared accommodation) to better understand how the service is delivered and to identify potential gaps in provision.

2. Peer support is the key aspect of recovery housing definitions in the U.S. context. However, the role of peer support in a Scottish context is not fully clear from the data collected as part of this survey. This is due to the inherent overlap with peer support in many aspects of the services’ governance and delivery. Further research is required to explore this in more depth, and may benefit from adopting a qualitative interview methodology.

3. It would be beneficial to go beyond the insights of providers and conduct specific research on the lived and living experiences of current service users, people seeking to access recovery housing support, and those referring them. This would enable a better understanding of the needs and barriers experienced by the population of people who would benefit from this service.