Description
Housing First in a Housing Emergency
Date: 26 January 2026 | Time: 2.30 – 4.00pm | Platform: Teams
In times of crisis, the moral case for focusing on the people worst off – and preventing the worst harm – hardly needs stating. But the strategic and financial case is just as compelling, and for anyone managing housing and homelessness services right now, every bit as urgent.
People whose homelessness is compounded by trauma, addictions, mental ill-health or rough sleeping are the group risking the deepest, longest damage from the current housing crisis. Every additional month without a settled home adds measurable harm to their health and life chances, but it also generates the highest per-person costs across temporary accommodation, health, social care and justice.
Housing First is the intervention that breaks the cycle fastest and most sustainably. Preventing the worst harm to the worst-affected is the single most effective way to reduce overall harm and cost across the entire system.
The evidence isn’t new, but the urgency is.
That’s why it’s genuinely encouraging to see Housing First reaffirmed at a national level in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, with a new duty on Scottish Ministers to report annually on scaling up progress. Plus new funding announced in the Scottish Government’s Housing Emergency Action Plan with:
- £3m capital grant for RSLs to acquire properties.
- £1m uplift to Housing First delivery within local authority RRTP funding.
Join us for this timely webinar to:
- Hear directly from Scottish Government on the ambition and the funding.
- Explore the latest annual Housing First Check-up findings.
- Get your hands on the newly updated Branching Out framework, the practical ‘how to’ guide.
- Hear local authorities and partners talk openly about barriers they faced, and how they overcame them.
Bring your questions, your experiences, and your ideas on how we collectively deliver on the Housing First promise during a housing crisis.