The Metro in Helsingin päärautatieasema (Helsinki Central Railway Station) is accessed via an underpass system and underground shopping centre that form a maze of pedestrian tunnels. In any other country in Europe, this would be a prime spot for rough sleepers and street beggars. But Finland has reduced its rough sleeping population to close to zero – by housing them.
Housing First
In 1987, Helsinki had a population of 800,000 – of whom around 18,000 were homeless. Over the last three decades, progressive policies have reduced the homeless figure to around 6000 while the population of the greater urban area of Helsinki has increased to over a million. Rough sleeping has been practically eliminated by the Finnish government’s Housing First policy.
Unconditional Offer
The guiding principle of the Housing First initiative is an unconditional offer of a home. A rough sleeper is given an offer of housing, paid for by state benefits, without the stipulations about behaviour change that are common in other such schemes. Drug addicts and heavy drinkers will not lose their housing offer if they are unable to change their habits – but they are assigned a support worker to help them work through these issues.
Future Plans
Having solved the problem of rough sleeping, the Finnish government is not resting on its laurels regarding the remaining homeless population – most of whom are staying with friends and family or in temporary shelters. The next phase of the government’s plan involves tackling the causes of homelessness by increasing the availability of affordable rented housing. There are also initiatives aimed at improving integration of the homeless population with local communities.
Kanndoo
We believe the UK government has much to learn from their Finnish equivalents and is far too slow to move in introducing radical solutions to homelessness. We aim to shake things up by applying the efficiencies of software development to ease some of the problems faced by the UK homeless population.
If you would like to know more about the Kanndoo project, please get in touch.
