Finland: Can Housing First End Homelessness?
|Advocates in Finland believe it is possible to eradicate homelessness by the early 2030s.
By Rebecca Corbett
Finland is not only yet again the happiest country in the world but is leading the way in reducing homelessness. Since Housing First was introduced in 2008, the number of people who are homeless has fallen almost every year[1] and according to Juha Kahila from Y-Säätiö, Finland’s fourth largest landlord and largest nationwide non-profit landlord, the country now thinks it is possible to eradicate homelessness completely by the early 2030s.
Finland’s relationship with affordable housing dates back 70 years – its social housing policy was born out of World War II. Juha explains: “We lost a lot of land to Russia and unfortunately 400,000 people were left on the wrong side of the border and when they moved back to the right side, we needed to be able to house them, and that was the beginning of affordable housing.” The plan was supposed to be short-term but seventy years later it’s still going strong and Juha estimates that 13 per cent of all housing in Finland today is affordable.
Because of the strict building regulations in the country, houses are all built and renovated to a high standard and in capital city Helsinki there is an aim to create a housing policy which states that in any new area, 25 per cent of new houses must be affordable. “In Finland affordable housing is just like normal housing. It doesn’t look cheap – so there is no stigma around the words affordable housing,” Juha continues.
Rent for affordable housing is not legally allowed to make a profit for a landlord or housing association, which means the rent is limited to cover the financial and maintenance cost of the property. This means it’s normally 20 per cent to 40 per cent cheaper than the private market - this varies depending on the location of the property.
“One of the big things about the housing policy in Helsinki is that they want to have a social mix,” says Juha. “It doesn’t matter what the area is like and how expensive it is, there has to be people from different backgrounds and different income levels because it’s the best way to avoid segregation and avoid creating areas where people don’t want to move to because it has a reputation.”
According to the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland’s statistics, the number of people who are homeless has fallen almost every year since 2008[2]. And government policy in recent years has supported this trend. Juha explains that politicians have historically been on board too and have seen the benefits of increased affordable housing and how the introduction of Housing First has helped to lead to a decline in homelessness.
However, with the change of government in 2023 from the Social Democratic Party to a coalition government, Juha and the team at Y-Säätiö have already seen substantial changes to the social security and affordable housing system, and they are now concerned that this will impact the success of the programme to date.
How Housing First works in Finland
Housing First was first introduced in Finland in 2008 and works in two ways – people who are homeless have access to permanent housing either in ‘scattered housing’ (private apartments anywhere in the city, which account for 80 per cent of the total) or in a community unit – an apartment building with an average of 60 one person apartments, where the tenants have access to 24/7 support from medical and social welfare teams.
“In Finland we have this mentality that we feel that homelessness is not an individual’s fault, it is the system’s fault, and we need to make the systems work for the people and not the other way around,” says Juha.
The main difference between Housing First in Finland and support for homeless people in other countries is that people do not need to be taking part in any special programme or meet any special requirements to access housing, and their tenancy agreement is permanent. If someone is homeless, they meet a social worker and have a conversation about which housing option would be best for them and then they are put on a waiting list for their preferred choice. While they wait, they are given a place in temporary accommodation or in a shelter, or they can stay with friends and family.
Housing First works on the principle that someone will be in a better position to access the support they need if they have a stable home and somewhere to live. Juha and his team advocate a continuation of this, promoting permanent housing solutions rather than temporary accommodation and shelters.
Despite its overwhelming benefits and proven success, Housing First in Finland does face some challenges. Juha explains that in the most popular Housing First units there can have waiting times of six to nine months before an apartment becomes available. It is generally much faster to get an apartment in ‘scattered housing’ – according to Juha, the current waiting time in Helsinki for one of these apartments is between one month and six weeks.
“Homelessness is not an individual’s fault, it is the system’s fault.”
“‘Scattered housing’ with at-home support through house visits is the more common option, however, Juha explains that not all people want to go down this route because of the risk of isolation. “People experiencing loneliness don’t want to move into scattered housing because they fear that they won’t know anyone in the building or they will be stigmatised, so they want to have the option to move into one of these units.” Juha estimates that annually only three to five people out of 60 in a Housing First community unit will move on to scattered housing. People do not have to leave the unit at any point. It can be their home for the rest of their lives if they choose, regardless of whether they need the on-site support or not, because they have their own rental agreement for an unlimited time.
However, Juha explains: “The reality is that if someone doesn’t need any support and they go to work, at some point they will seek another housing option for themselves.” Another challenge the programme has faced is Housing First units integrating into local neighbourhoods – it can take one to two years for a unit to be accepted by the community. However, certain policies are in place to help integration, such as providing a telephone number which anyone from the neighbourhood can call if they are concerned about anything. And Juha thinks this provides the security people require. Despite fears of an increase in crime rates, Juha thinks it’s the other way round: “When people don’t have to stay in temporary accommodation, or in a shelter, or on the street, then they don’t need to commit crime or be on the street during the night.”
The units also hold monthly open-door days so members of the public can visit, speak to the employees, and meet the tenants. There are also neighbourhood work groups such as the environment group that helps to maintain the neighbourhood by collecting rubbish and making sure that everything looks nice.
What next?
The current government has set a new goal to end long-term homelessness in Finland by the end of 2027. Juha has reservations, however: “We will have to see how these government changes play out in future and whether the number of homeless people will continue to go down, or whether they will go up for the first time in many years. We will have to see and stay in dialogue with the change-makers, so they understand the consequences.”
Despite this, Juha is positive: “I’m really optimistic that we can end homelessness. I think that 2027 comes a bit fast but hopefully by the end of the 2020s or the early 2030s we will end homelessness in Finland – completely.”
[1] During 2019-2020 there was an increase in number of people who were homeless but this has continued to decline since 2020: www.ara.fi/en/media/101