Since 2017, Almond Housing Association (AHA) has been working in partnership with support provider, Rock Trust (RT) to deliver Housing First for Youth (HF4Y) in West Lothian, Scotland. Following the success of the pilot, and with a desire to share learning on this process, AHA commissioned Imogen Blood & Associates to carry out research to explore its contribution to HF4Y principles from their perspective as a housing provider. This included depth interviews with key staff, a survey of other staff and a review of data and costs.
The Rock Trust/ Almond Housing Association Housing First for Youth Project
Since 2017, Almond Housing Association has been working in partnership with support provider, Rock Trust to deliver Housing First for Youth (HF4Y) in West Lothian, Scotland. Initial beneficiaries of the project were care experienced young people with multiple and complex needs, who were already homeless or deemed to be at high risk of homelessness, though the focus has been broadened since the first pilot to include young people who have not been in local authority care. From September 2017 to January 2022, a total of 17 young people have accessed the service; 10 of whom have become tenants of Almond as a result of the project; with the remainder accessing properties owned and managed by West Lothian council.
The initial three-year pilot was funded by Nationwide Building Society and Housing First Europe Hub, with significant in-kind contributions from both Almond and Rock Trust. Continuation funding has been supplied by West Lothian Council. The original pilot was evaluated by Imogen Blood & Associates (IBA), in partnership with the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, and with funding from Housing First Europe Hub. The evaluation report was published in 2020 and can be downloaded from here.
This report is divided into the following sections:
- Section 2 describes recent developments in Housing First for Youth and summarises key messages from existing literature (including our previous evaluation of this project) regarding the key role of housing within the model.
- Section 3 tells Almond’s story – its decision to participate in the HF4Y pilot, how it implemented the pilot and the critical success factors within this.
- Section 4 presents two composite case studies in which we have merged details from different tenancies to present two different journeys, highlighting the role of the housing officer within these.
- Section 5 highlights the impacts from the HF4Y project for Almond, both internally and externally.
- Section 6 summarises the financial implications of the project for Almond.
- Section 7 reflects on the potential for and possible demand for replication of the model by other social landlords.
Read the Executive Summary here.
Read the full report here.
Authors: Sarah Alden, Imogen Blood, Deborah Quilgars and Chloe Hands