'Housing First' or 'Housing Led'? The current picture of Housing First in England

Traditionally homelessness services in England have taken a ‘staircase’ or linear approach to housing people experiencing homelessness, whereby people progress through a series of accommodation and treatment services until they are ‘housing ready’ and can access independent housing. Housing First makes no conditions and provides an immediate housing solution with ‘wrap around’ support to an individual to help them maintain it. This report summarises evidence about the scale of the current use of Housing First in England, how it is funded, and the challenges and opportunities for rolling it out on a national scale. It finally examines the gaps in current evidence, policy and practice that could be addressed to help Housing First be credible housing solution to people experiencing multiple disadvantage across England.