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 ml

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