Plan to end homelessness launched

In recent weeks the long-awaited National Plan to End Homelessness was launched, marking one of the most significant moments in homelessness policy since the turn of the century.

Backed by £3.5 billion over the next three years, the ambition is fairly clear. The government wants to prevent homelessness before it happens, reduce rough sleeping, and stop families staying in unsuitable temporary accommodation.

While it would be immediately obvious of the importance for a charity tackling homelessness like FPH - it also extends further. 

This is also a big step in combating the mental health crisis - particularly among men - because homelessness is not only a housing issue. It extends to mental health, social exclusion and the silent struggle I so often write about.

The majority of people sleeping rough in England are men and research shows high rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, and suicide risk among them. This is hardly breaking news, but it is important to mention.

Many blokes who end up on the wrong side of these issues have struggled to find consistent roofs to sleep under, many struggle to maintain relationships and employment, and prior to FPH intervention, many have untreated mental health issues. 

Once housing is lost, mental health often deteriorates - sometimes rapidly – and once mental health declines, clawing out from homelessness is virtually an impossibility. 

A notable point of the updated strategy is the proposed "duty to collaborate", which requires collaborative public services to prevent homelessness. Ex-offenders, disenfranchised and mentally unstable men should benefit, as individual, and at times conflicting, services can actually have result in people in need having nowhere to go.

The commitment to halve the number of people made homeless on their first night after leaving prison, and to ensure no one is discharged from hospital into homelessness, is especially significant. 

Confronting the times where men are at their most vulnerable is a good example of a preventative measure amongst a preventative approach. Previous failures at these stages has led people into long-term cycles of rough sleeping, trauma and poor mental health.

Organisations - including FPH - have long argued that consulting with public services and institutions should not result in unstable living conditions. This plan acts on these posits. .

The £3.5 billion funding package includes a £1 billion boost over previous commitments, alongside targeted programmes such as a £124 million supported housing scheme for people with complex needs, a £15 million Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme, and £37 million for community-based services delivered by voluntary, faith and grassroots organisations.

This matters because homeless men often need more than a roof. 

Yes they need housing, but they also require specialist - ideally trauma-informed services - and consistent mental health support.

Investment in the workforce through the new National Workforce Programme is also needed. Burnout among homelessness and mental health specialists is high, and honestly how could it not be?.

By addressing homelessness earlier, and through prevention work in schools, the strategy offers a chance to show the punchline has some meaning - by breaking cycles before they begin.

The government’s stated ambition is for homelessness to be “rare, brief and not repeated”. That aligns closely with messages from charities, people with lived experience, and mental health advocates over many years.

But as is often the case, a strategy is only as strong as its delivery. 

Success will depend on genuine collaboration with the sector, consistent funding and continued involvement of expertise. It will also require recognition of the link between the issues - safe housing and good mental health are inseparable.

This National Plan represents an opportunity to change lives, but as previously stated, it is only a plan. Decisions in Westminster and Whitehall will determine whether it was worth a blog, but I'd rather a strategy in the first instance, than simply reacting.