Homelessness has risen dramatically since the Tories came to power, despite their manifesto pledge to end rough sleeping. In order to ensure this commitment is not added to their long list of broken election promises, a national Housing First programme is vital. This scheme flips the system on its head by ensuring that people who are experiencing homelessness are given access to mainstream housing instead of emergency temporary accommodation.
Housing First has been incredibly successful in other parts of the world and The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ending Homelessness, which I co-chair, has just completed an inquiry into how we can scale up the programme nationwide, following the regional Housing First pilots schemes in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and West Midlands.