Perspectives on prevention from people with experience of homelessness.

Scotland has some of the best protections in the world for people who lose their home. But with 8% of people in Scotland – around 1 in 12 – having experienced homelessness, it is clear far too many people are being forced to experience the trauma of housing crisis. It does not have to be this way. The best way to end homelessness is to stop it happening in the first place.

Key findings

This research highlights the very different circumstances that serve as the route into homelessness for different people. The triggers for a young person who has been asked to leave the family home are very different from the triggers for someone who has experience of problem substance use and experience of the criminal justice system. Similarly, the triggers for someone who has experienced bereavement, lost his job and gradually accumulated rent arrears are very different from the triggers for a woman who has experienced domestic abuse and struggled to get a joint tenancy transferred into her own name. It is essential that the policy and practice surrounding the new homelessness prevention duties is designed to respond to these very specific and often intersectional routes into housing crisis.

What people have told us they want and need for the future:

• Help at an earlier stage, with proactive identification of warning signs of housing crisis
• Support that is empathetic and supportive rather than judgemental
• Flexible housing options so they can live in circumstances that are right for them
• Honest communication about options and follow up support
• A housing system that works for people in housing crisis
• The ability to afford housing and to move on with their lives without financial traps
• A housing and support system that makes good economic sense

Reference

Sims, R., Reid, B., Cowan, N. and Allard, M. (2023) Home is the Foundation: Perspectives on prevention from people with experience of homelessness. London: Crisis.