The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, has turned to Finland for bold lessons in how to tackle rough sleeping in the city.
Burnham has said he is committed to making the region “the first in the UK to adopt a ‘housing first’ philosophy like Finland”. A scheme launched there in 2008 that gives people homes when they need them, without conditions attached, has brought down homelessness by 70% and eradicated poverty-based homelessness completely.
Now, after a successful pilot of a similar housing first scheme in Greater Manchester, which has supported 430 people with complex experiences of homelessness, Burnham is bidding for government funding to extend it beyond the current deadline of March 2025.
When he first became mayor, Burnham said: “I kept hearing people talking about Finland and housing first, so I just thought, well, I better get over there and have a look. So I went, and it was sort of life-changing, actually.”
Burnham is calling for the UK to take a similar approach to Finland. He said the release of the Grenfell report last week should be a “watershed moment” in housing policy for the UK. By providing people with homes, Burnham said, money can be saved in public service budgets elsewhere.
“It actually saves public money to do this,” he said. “It’s not as if we’re just asking for something, and it’s another pressure. The bigger you do housing first, the more you’ll save.”
There are already a number of housing first schemes in place in different areas across the country. As well as being offered permanent homes in an area of their choice, Greater Manchester Housing First offers people with experience of homelessness intensive, wrap-around support.
Lisa Minshull, 50, who lives in Salford, said she had previously been passed “from pillar to post,” and it was only when a GM Housing First support worker “put me in control of where I wanted to be” that she turned her life around.
“I’ve been homeless three times,” she said. “The first time was when I was 15 and a half; my mum committed suicide. The second time was through domestic violence, and I just walked out … The last time I was homeless was through a house fire.”
“I was a shell of a woman when I first got my house,” she said, “and I built it up. I’ve got my dog now, and my cat, which has been brilliant for my anxiety, they’re my best friends.”
“With the support from Housing First,” she added, “I’ve just gone from strength to strength to strength.”
Minshull, who has struggled with alcohol addiction and spent time in prison for shoplifting in the past, is now cooking and eating healthy meals. She is getting fitter, she is enjoying baking again, and she has ambitions to write a series of books.
“The house is brilliant,” she said. “It’s the best place I’ve ever lived … I know I can quite happily just live out the rest of my days there.”
Speaking at an event in Manchester marking the success of the scheme, the Finnish ambassador, Jukka Siukosaari, said he saw no reason why the UK could not achieve the same results as his country.
“I think that it can be applied [here], and that is part of the reason why we’re here, because we are happy to share the experiences we have had,” he said. “Human beings are similar everywhere, so it can’t be impossible to apply to other countries as well.”
• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
