May 4th 2018
Housing Policy That Works.
Sounds simple but Finland have a housing model called
''Housing First '' and it shows it's always more cost- effective to try to end homelessness rather than manage it.The ''Housing First '' appears to work,from 2008 to 2014 the number of people who were homeless decreased by 1200 and continues to fall.Finland is the only European country where this has happened,so their policy works for the homeless,and the wider community.
The model is quite simple ;when people are homeless,you give them housing first - a stable home,rather than progressing them through several layers of temporary and transitional accommodation as is the practice in New Zealand.The idea stems from the belief that people who are homeless need a home,other issues can be addressed once they are in stable housing.It is accepted that having a home can solve health and social problems much easier.
Implementing housing first is not reasonable without proper housing options.In Finland,housing options included the use of social housing ,buying flats from the private sector to be used as rental apartments for homeless people,and building new housing blocks for supported housing.An important part of the programme was the extensive conversion of shelters and dormitory - type hostels into supported housing,to address the huge need for accommodation that offered help to tenants.
All this cost's money,but there is ample evidence from many countries that show it is always more- cost effective to aim to end homelessness instead of simply trying to manage it.
Investment in ending homelessness always pays back,to say nothing of the human and ethical reasons.To say that the scarcity of funding is the reason for the lack of affordable social housing is either an understatement or a conscious misunderstanding.It is simply a question of political will.
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