Mayor Andy Burnham pledges Finnish-style homelessness strategy

Mayor Andy Burnham pledges Finnish-style homelessness strategy
Credit: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Manchester (London Parliament Politics Magazine) – Mayor Andy Burnham has pledged to scale up measures to give rough sleepers homes in Greater Manchester in a proposal to follow Finland in slashing homelessness via a Housing First scheme.

Around 400 people have been helped off the streets and into their own homes in the area through Housing First since a pilot started in 2019. The Housing First model notices rough sleepers given a home alongside the wraparound backing they need to escape homelessness. It is widely considered as one of the resolutions to street homelessness and has had a big influence in Finland where it has cut homelessness by 70% since 2007.

How Will Andy Burnham’s Housing First Plans Help Reduce Rough Sleeping?

Managing a housing conference in Manchester, Burnham expressed he is setting up a cross-sector Housing First Unit to complete the philosophy central to the region’s steps to tackle homelessness.

“Following the second statement from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, it is abundantly clear that a sea change is required in the way Britain thinks about housing,” the Greater Manchester mayor stated. “Rather than a money-making option or just a commodity to be bought and sold, we ought to see housing as an essential service. Offering everyone a good, safe home would be one of the best investments the nation could make, and would take pressure off other public services and public finances. 

“We are willing to pilot this approach in Greater Manchester and evolve the first UK city region to adopt a Finnish-style Housing First philosophy. The proof is clear that it works, and when a pilot scheme gets results it shouldn’t end there – it should become the new normal. Housing First has revealed that if you give people an unqualified right to safe and secure housing, backed up with personalised support, you set them up to succeed.”

How Will the Cross-Sector Housing First Unit Transform Homelessness Services in Manchester?

The Housing First pilot is one of three government-backed projects operating in England alongside Liverpool City Region and the West Midlands. Funding is presently set to run out next year with the administration yet to set out its plans for Housing First.

The pilot project has supported people like Vance, who was homeless for a decade after his alcohol addiction left him alienated from his family. He was presented with a flat through the Housing First pilot after leaving rehab.

He stated: “I want to just give the next person the advice that they need: I would state get on that ladder and stay on that ladder. Go and sort your addiction out. Do it for yourself.” Burnham coordinates and has set out plans to embrace a wider philosophy related to the model, much like what has been accomplished to great success in Finland.

Daniele Naddei

Daniele Naddei is a journalist at Parliament News covering European affairs, was born in Naples on April 8, 1991. He also serves as the Director of the CentroSud24 newspaper. During the period from 2010 to 2013, Naddei completed an internship at the esteemed local radio station Radio Club 91. Subsequently, he became the author of a weekly magazine published by the Italian Volleyball Federation of Campania (FIPAV Campania), which led to his registration in the professional order of Journalists of Campania in early 2014, listed under publicists. From 2013 to 2018, he worked as a freelance photojournalist and cameraman for external services for Rai and various local entities, including TeleCapri, CapriEvent, and TLA. Additionally, between 2014 and 2017, Naddei collaborated full-time with various newspapers in Campania, both in print and online. During this period, he also resumed his role as Editor-in-Chief at Radio Club 91.
Naddei is actively involved as a press officer for several companies and is responsible for editing cultural and social events in the city through his association with the Medea Fattoria Sociale. This experience continued until 2021. Throughout these years, he hosted or collaborated on football sports programs for various local broadcasters, including TLA, TvLuna, TeleCapri, Radio Stonata, Radio Amore, and Radio Antenna Uno.
From 2016 to 2018, Naddei was employed as an editor at newspapers of national interest within the Il24.it circuit, including Internazionale24, Salute24, and OggiScuola. Since 2019, Naddei has been one of the creators of the Rabona television program "Calcio è Passione," which has been broadcast on TeleCapri Sport since 2023.