Housing First
he aim of Housing First was to provide homes to people who struggle to follow the traditional homelessness pathways for a variety of reasons. They were given rapid access to housing rather than having to prove that they were “tenancy ready”. Once housed, they were provided with intense wrap around support to enable them to manage and sustain their tenancy
Client stories
Both Tristan and Olivia were trapped in a vicious circle of addiction and homelessness. Watch their videos to hear them tell their stories and how Housing First changed both of their lives.
“When you have a home, it takes the worries out of the way and you can move forward. That’s all it is”.
— Tristan, Housing First Client
“I don’t know where I’d be without Housing First. They need to use that system for more people”
— Olivia, Housing First Client
In numbers
28
clients have successfully been housed (2022)
83%
reduction in A&E attendance for our HF clients.
90%
of clients are sustaining their tenancies.
35%
reduction in number of arrests reported by our HF clients.
11.5
average number of years homeless for our clients. Two had been on the streets for 20+ years.
Housing First in Bristol
Golden Key launched Bristol’s Housing First project in the spring of 2018. The project is run in partnership with Bristol City Council, Second Step and a number of housing providers (Live West, Solon, United Communities, Sovereign, Curo and Abri).
Housing First is an evidence-based approach which has shown some great results in addressing the issue of homelessness in Bristol, across the UK and in many countries around the world.
In Bristol, we have attempted to remain as true to the Housing First England model as possible.
We have opted to work with those with the most complex needs and people who had been long-term street homeless, i.e. had been homeless for five years or more.
Our case workers have no more than 7 clients on their caseload. Partnership working is at the heart of our project and we have developed really strong relationships with the various parties involved. Housing First in Bristol has its own board overseeing the project.
As part of this partnership working, we provide trauma-informed training to housing providers to help them better understand the client
group. We are really proud that Housing First remains active in Bristol
Bristol Housing First: Key learning
Housing First is an evidence-based, cost effective approach for those with the most complex needs. We have published a report that highlights the learning from Bristol Housing First through the experiences of staff and including the perspectives of clients. It gives an overview of the benefits, the importance of maintaining high fidelity to the Housing First model and examines challenges to implementation.
