Estrategias para la prevención

y el abordaje de la exclusión

residencial en Europa

Europan bizitegi-bazterketari

heltzeko eta aurrea hartzeko

estrategiak

Suzanne Fitzpatrick

Strategies for Preventing and Addressing Homelessness in Europe – the Scottish System

Introduction The wider welfare and housing context in the UK The UK statutory homelessness system The Scottish model What has been achieved Challenges ahead What difference would Scottish independence make?

Homelessness Monitor Series

http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/homelessnessmonitor.html

Some UK context

Income maintenance benefits paid to virtually all ‘poor’ households in UK, but ungenerous (by northern European standards)

Housing as ‘saving grace’ of UK welfare state: Housing Benefit pays up to 100% of ‘eligible’ rent; in/out-of-

work benefit; covers social and private rental sectors substantial social rented sector (17% in UK; 23% in

Scotland); allocated overwhelmingly on basis of‘need’ ‘statutory homelessness system’

The UK statutory homelessness system

Established in 1977 Households assessed by local authorities as:

o ‘Homeless’o In ‘priority need’ (household contains children,

pregnant woman or vulnerable person(s)) Entitled to be found ‘settled’ housing by the local

authority that accepts a duty Historically, statutorily homeless households account

for 20-30% of new tenants entering social housing in the UK

The emergence of the ‘Scottish System’

Scottish Parliament established in 1999 = housing and homelessness functions ‘devolved’; but welfare benefits (including Housing Benefit) ‘reserved’

Homelessness Task Force (1999) = new legislation that phased out the ‘priority need’ criterion between 2003 and 2012

This means that in Scotland virtually all homeless people have a legally enforceable right to settled housing (and to be provided with temporary accommodation until this can be secured)

What have we achieved? ‘Single people’ get much better response from local authorities

than a) elsewhere in UK, and b) pre-2003

Recorded rough sleeping and repeat homelessness has declined steadily

Levels of ‘statutory homelessness’ have been falling sharply since the introduction of the ‘Housing Options’ model in 2010

There is now a much stronger emphasis on homelessness prevention and flexible/outcome-orientated interventions (but concerns about ‘gatekeeping’)

Challenges ahead

Scotland is attempting to implement the ‘ideal homelessness system’: strong statutory safety net + robust prevention

But faces intensifying homelessness pressures from a combination of:

radical welfare cutbacks (particularly Housing Benefit) tightening supply of affordable housing squeeze on local government finance Can targeted achievements on homelessness be

sustained in face of these wider structural pressures? So far = yes. But for how long?

Finally, what difference would Scottish independence make?

In some ways not much – housing and homelessness policy are devolved functions and have already ‘radically diverged’ from those in rest of UK

But welfare benefits (including Housing Benefit) are still ‘reserved’ matters and critical to both the prevention of homelessness and to the delivery of homelessness services; Scotland could develop a different, and probably more generous, welfare system if there is a ‘yes’ vote (unlikely but possible)

It is more likely that Scotland votes ‘no’ but gains greater powers in welfare and other fields, under a de facto ‘devo–max’ settlement