Housing First is an approach to tackling rough sleeping and entrenched homelessness that prioritises giving people a stable home immediately, without
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Housing First is an approach to tackling rough sleeping and entrenched homelessness that prioritises giving people a stable home immediately, without requiring them to engage with treatment programmes or meet sobriety conditions first. Here is how the model works, who qualifies, and how to find out if Housing First is available in your area.
What is Housing First?
Traditional services for people experiencing homelessness often work on a "staircase" model, people move through hostels and supported accommodation, proving their readiness for independent living before being given a permanent tenancy. Housing First turns this around: it offers a settled, ordinary home as the starting point, not the end goal.
The idea is that a stable home is the foundation everything else depends on. Recovery from addiction, treatment for mental illness, and rebuilding personal and social relationships are all significantly harder from the street or from temporary and emergency accommodation.
The key principles
Housing First services in England generally follow a set of internationally recognised principles:
- Immediate access to permanent housing: There is no requirement to be sober, drug-free, or treatment-ready before being housed
- Ordinary housing in the community: Not congregate or institutional settings, but regular homes in normal neighbourhoods
- Choice and control: The person being housed has a say in where they live and what support they receive
- Flexible support, for as long as needed: Intensive support is available for as long as the person wants it, but there is no requirement to accept it
- Separation of housing and support: The tenancy is not conditional on engaging with support services; if someone refuses support, they keep their home
Who is Housing First for?
Housing First is aimed at people with multiple and complex needs who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness and who have not been able to sustain accommodation through other routes. This often includes people with:
- Severe mental ill health
- Problematic substance use
- A history of trauma or adverse childhood experiences
- Involvement with the criminal justice system
- A pattern of tenancy failures in supported or temporary accommodation
It is not designed as a general homelessness solution for everyone, if you are newly homeless and your needs are less complex, other routes (such as the housing register or temporary accommodation) may be more appropriate.
How to access Housing First
Housing First services are commissioned locally by councils and combined authorities, and delivered by a mix of charities and housing associations. Availability varies considerably around the country.
To find out whether Housing First is available in your area:
- Contact your local council's homelessness team: Ask whether Housing First places are available and whether you or someone you know might be eligible
- Contact a local homelessness charity: Organisations such as St Mungo's, Change Grow Live, and local YMCA branches may run Housing First programmes
- Speak to your key worker or support worker: If you are already in contact with a homelessness service, they can advise on local provision
Housing First and tenancy rights
A person placed in a Housing First property is a tenant. They have the same rights as any other tenant, including the right to a property that is in repair and fit to live in. If the property has damp, mould, broken heating, or other disrepair, the landlord (whether a council, housing association, or private landlord) has a legal duty to fix it.
Living with complex needs does not reduce your housing rights.
When should I contact Support for Tenants?
If you are in any form of rented housing, including a Housing First placement, and the property is in disrepair that your landlord has not fixed, call us on 0800 030 4669. We can assess whether you have a claim regardless of your circumstances or benefit status.
No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation. If you don't win, you pay nothing.
Sources
- Section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)
Related articles
- Homeless or being evicted, what to do
- Temporary accommodation, your rights
- Priority need, homeless, what counts?
- Where to get other housing help
We review every guide at least twice a year and update it when the law changes. If you spot something out of date or wrong, email help@supportfortenants.co.uk.
Reviewed against current housing law for England and Wales as at 15 June 2026. Checked by our SRA-regulated panel solicitors. This is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. Any compensation figures or ranges shown are illustrative only and not guaranteed; every case is different.
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