Housing First Scotland’s Pathfinder programme, which ran from April 2019-March 2022, was independently evaluated by I-SPHERE in partnership with ICF this year.

Some interesting findings from the evaluation include:

• Tenancy sustainment rates of 88% at 12-months and 80% at 24-months overall – even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic
• By demonstrating the efficacy of Housing First, other homelessness service providers and housing  providers were encouraged to adopt more flexible and/or less conditional forms of support and revise their procedures to cater more effectively for Housing First clientele.
• Housing First and healthcare are necessarily interlinked due to the needs of Housing First clientele. While Housing First is effective when it comes to preventing and reducing repeat homelessness, other benefits beyond tenancy sustainment will remain difficult to fully realise while public health and care services remain inflexible and limited in their support approach – particularly regarding mental health service provision.

For more information, please read:

• 9 Key Messages from Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder Evaluation
• Executive Summary
• Full Evaluation Report