‘Labour needs to learn lessons from Finland in tackling homelessness’

Eradicating homelessness and rough sleeping must be a key ambition of the Labour government as we prepare to mark World Homeless Day on October 10.

Those in the sector know only too well the damage homelessness causes to individuals and their loved ones as well as the cost to society, including the loss of potential and talent.

A stable home is the bedrock of good physical and mental health, happy relationships and the springboard from which to develop a career and raise a family.

Creating a strong economy and fairer society, with opportunities for all and a safety net to stop people falling through cracks, should be the big picture after 14 years of Tory failure.

While tackling homelessness in the here and now requires a systemic approach.

We should draw inspiration from the last Labour government with its Rough Sleepers Unit but also Finland’s Housing First programme which has virtually eliminated street homelessness and is now close to ending all forms of homelessness.

Earlier this year, in my then role as shadow minister for homelessness, I joined charity Crisis for a whistle-stop visit to Finland to see what has been achieved.

This coincided with research highlighting the contrasting reality in Tory Britain where our badge of dishonour was having the highest rate of homelessness in the developed world.

The following is my takeaway from an intense but informative couple of days, which I’m sharing with the new Labour administration.

Strong foundations

By 2008, Finland had reached a crossroads. The old ways of tackling homelessness were not working. Emergency night shelters were a sticking plaster at best; reproducing trauma and trapping people in a vicious cycle of destitution.

Housing First was a new philosophy based on everyone being able to access a decent home as a human right rather than being conditional on engaging in services for addictions or mental health. In a reversal of traditional thinking, policy makers realised having a place to call home was a necessary foundation for people to begin tackling their problems.

In practice, it meant building affordable social homes as well as hopes and dreams.

Political leadership with a missionary zeal to end homelessness was the driver. Directed from the centre but owned and shared across government departments, local government, the third sector and trade unions.

It’s not rocket science really. A national plan to increase the supply of affordable homes for social rent, with wrap-around support for people with complex needs and vulnerabilities. It even included converting the former night shelters into apartments.

READ MORE: Budget 2024: What do trade unions hope to see from Chancellor Rachel Reeves?

While it’s true upfront costs may be high, in the long-term Housing First saves money, with cost reductions in areas like healthcare, social services and the justice system.

Successive administrations, from across the political spectrum, stuck to the plan and the results are impressive.

In the early hours, I walked around Helinski, near the main train station, passing shop doorways and public parks. No cardboard, quilts, blankets or sleeping bags. No sign of a person so desperate they must sleep on the streets.

Housing First pilot schemes are taking place here – in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and the West Midlands – guided by similar principles.

I’ve visited the projects in Manchester and Liverpool where homeless people with complex needs are helped through the provision of safe, secure homes upfront, together with person-centred support.

At the time, tenancies were being sustained in both cities at around the 80% mark.

Putting housing first

But Housing First is not immune to the housing supply and affordability crisis that remains the fundamental problem in the UK. Project leaders have started to bump up against that particular brick wall in terms of sourcing future properties.

If such pilots remain tiny islands of hope surrounded by a sea of rising waters, then our approach won’t be transformative.

So, it’s welcome news for everyone that Labour is committed to building 1.5 million new homes over five years, including ramping up the amount of social and council housing being built – and this latter element is crucial.

I want to see 90,000 social homes, available for genuinely affordable rent, being constructed every single year – on a scale we have not seen for a generation. Building these homes will provide dignity and security to working people.

And it’s vital ‘right to buy’ on new social homes is paused to protect the housing stock otherwise, as my friend and colleague Andy Burnham has pointed out – ‘it’s like trying to fill a bath but with the plug out’.

If increased supply can be twinned with a laser-like focus on tackling homelessness along Finnish lines, we can make a real difference.

Because what’s needed is early intervention and wrap-around support to stop people becoming homeless in the first place and to pick them up quickly if they lose their home or are forced to sleep rough.

Recap on all of the news and debate from party conference 2024 by LabourList here.

Over time the Finnish model has evolved in this way, focusing more and more on prevention and the rapid rehousing of people, with support, if they do become homeless and applied to all forms of homelessness.

As a result, they have dramatically reduced the use of temporary accommodation for individuals and families.

We all want to see homelessness become a thing of the past. It’s a national scandal and a tragedy that one of the wealthiest countries on the planet is failing the hundreds of thousands of people recorded as homeless, including children.

It’s time for us to unite across government departments, charities and organisations; pooling our resources, knowledge, and expertise to get behind the common goal of a future free from homelessness.

I wish colleagues including my good friend, Deputy PM Angela Rayner, and ministers, well in this endeavour.

We have the wherewithal to make this vision a reality. Let’s do it.

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