As a housing association, we are passionate about tackling homelessness and offering welcoming, safe and secure places to live. We address homelessness by providing affordable housing and increasing the supply of housing across all tenures. We also prevent homelessness through our tenancy sustainment work and employment and skills services.
But we want to do more and as a member of Homes for Cathy 
and Homeless Link , we’re committed to helping end homelessness. To achieve this, we’ve developed a set of principles to work with partners to prevent, tackle and raise the profile of homelessness - working with local authorities and specialist provider partners to assess the needs of each prospective resident and deliver a tailored, person-centred service.
Our partnership principles
To create long-term solutions, we have to address the reasons people become homeless.
- We won’t make any resident homeless who’s actively working with us to keep their tenancy.
- We make sure residents are financially capable of keeping their homes.
- We provide support to residents to help them find employment or access training.
- We’ll ensure that residents in our temporary accommodation are ready and equipped to sustain their tenancy once they move on.
- We provide all new residents with help to maintain their tenancy.
- We are committed to addressing domestic abuse and supporting victims.
- We provide support and practical help to victims and communities to tackle antisocial behaviour (ASB).
A range of housing and support is needed to meet different types of need
- We work with support agencies to offer supported housing and Housing First for vulnerable groups.
- We’ll provide good standard temporary accommodation that’s appropriately managed, making sure it’s not used as a long-term solution.
- We’ll continue to let our general needs homes to statutorily homeless households.
- We’ll invest in new homes, providing a range of affordable housing options.
- We’ll continue to do flexible allocations, thinking of individual circumstances and using innovative ways to let our properties.
- When we assess people as not ready for our homes, we’ll provide support through tenancy training to make them ready.
To tackle homelessness, we all need to work together.
- We’ll work with our primary local authorities to develop and deliver their strategic approach to homelessness.
- We will be part of forums that support work to address homelessness issues.
- We’ll use our influence to lobby local and national Government on homelessness issues.
- We’ll support national campaigns that address and raise awareness of homelessness.
- We provide financial support to local money advice agencies.
- We’ll share good practice with other organisations.
Housing First
Housing First is an approach to ending homelessness that prioritises access to a clean, safe and stable home first and foremost. Targeted, wraparound support is then offered alongside a permanent home - to help individuals tackle the issues that have been holding them back and empower people who have experienced housing crisis to live independently.
This model particularly benefits individuals who’ve experienced repeat homelessness, and have multiple and complex needs, such as drug and alcohol addiction, and mental health issues. Intensive support isn’t compulsory and there are no conditions placed upon individuals, other than a willingness to try and sustain a tenancy – and the emphasis is on choice and control.
A 2024 Homeless Link study [pdf, 414KB] has shown those in Housing First have:
- improved physical and mental health
- reduced admissions to A&E and hospital, and they engage with a GP and dentist
- significantly lower substance misuse
- more individuals engage in hobbies and interests
There is also a clear reduction in anti-social behaviour and offending.
We adopted the Housing First principle in 2018 and have since given 42 vulnerable people in housing crisis a place to call home.
Our Housing First model works on the basis that a long-term home is a stable platform from which to address other issues. But most importantly, the tenancy comes with comprehensive but not compulsory support. It’s not a condition of our housing to engage in treatment and we separate the two.
We work closely with skilled and experienced partner agencies who offer tailored support – and they encourage, not coerce, individuals to take positive steps towards recovery, offering flexible support for as long as it’s required.
We also give dignity, choice and control to individuals over the location and type of housing they live in. And they have access to the services SNG offer to every one of our residents - including tenancy and benefits support advice, our employment and skills service, and a dedicated locality officer.
Through our Housing First programme, we are making a demonstrable contribution to ending homelessness. To date we have:
- Built close relationships and worked successfully with eight local authorities and five support providers
- Placed 40 vulnerable people in a long-term home
- Transitioned three customers out of the Housing First service because they no longer need access to tailored support and are able to live independently.
We continue to grow our Housing First service and work with local authorities and support providers to offer long-term homes to the most vulnerable in our communities.
We adopt a psychologically informed approach, and this means we simply follow four key principles.
- Safety - By understanding our customers and their unique needs, we aim to ensure that they feel safe in our services. This is not just about the quality of the environment we provide but about how we work with customers, being credible in our service offer and building trust.
- Opportunities to rebuild control - We understand that people accessing our services may have come from complicated or traumatic backgrounds and sometimes have had very little say in what has happened to them and when. We listen carefully and support choice and control. We seek feedback and guidance through a range of forums so that we know people can be in the space they need to begin rebuilding the future that they want for themselves.
- Strengths based practice - We use people’s assets and positives as our starting point, rather than getting caught up things that haven’t gone well in the past. We’re really focused on advantage and asset-based thinking so that we can recognise the potential in people and help them achieve the outcomes that they’re seeking.
- Environment - We’re committed to investing in our accommodation to ensure the environment supports our approach. Our supported housing colleagues are all trained to understand and practice with an awareness of trauma.