WEAll News

Actionable Crowdsourced Policies for Homelessness

Tags: Build Back Better, buildbackbetter, event, Homeless, Homelessness, Housing, interview, policy
Published on July 15, 2020

By Isabel Nuesse

This past month, I represented WEAll at an online ActionAble event on the topic of ‘Homelessness in the UK’. The webinar included two other speakers, Lisa-Marie Bowles from LB Camden and Shane Cole from Feed Up Warm Up,

Lisa-Marie spoke about current actions taking place in Camden on housing during the time of COVID. Shane reflected on his own experience with homelessness, his continued healing and inspiration for Feed Up Warm Up.

During the event, I spoke to homelessness from a wellbeing economy perspective. From this lens, homelessness should not be viewed as an individual’s personal failing, but rather as a failing of our economic system. In a wellbeing economy, human and ecological wellbeing are prioritised, and can be resolved together. For example, a wellbeing economy envisions community-owned, eco-friendly housing as a potential solution to ensure that everyone has access to safe and affordable housing, without causing harm to our environment.

Following the presentations, over 30 participants from across the UK broke into working groups to discuss concrete ways that governments, businesses, NGOs and communities could end homelessness and ensure quality housing for all. This following list of tangible policies to tackle homelessness was generated under 10 minutes.

Our main takeaway?

We already have the solutions.
Now we need to make those solutions ActionAble.

 

Government Intervention

  • Government to purchase buildings in cities that can provide social housing.
  • Put pressure on the government to disclose where the money that is supposed to support individuals experiencing homelessness, is actually being diverted to the appropriate causes.
  • Provide government and non-profit services as a package offered under a single banner, as opposed to disjointed efforts from government and non-profits. This would allow interventions to ensure there are no gaps in service.
  • Ease regulations that require individuals to have an address to access basic services.
  • Simply give people homes.
  • Require new buildings to have a certain space for social housing / reduced rent.
  • Government to commission housing specifically for those who are housing insecure.
  • Give tax relief to organisations that are willing to help secure housing for individuals in their communities.
  • Require those that have a second home to give up their space for those without housing.
  • Tax by total land owned instead of by the location or square footage of the home.
  • Signpost empty houses and allow people to sleep there.

 

Business/NGO Intervention

  • Keep emergency beds in hotels and hostels to support those who are housing insecure.
  • Target organisations and companies to share their spaces with those that are experiencing homelessness.
  • Incite collaboration amongst non-profits to holistically support those that are experiencing homelessness, as opposed to working in silos.
  • Build ‘Airbnb for the Homeless’ i.e. empty bedrooms could be shown online, and homeless individuals could ‘book a room’ for the night.

 

Community-Based Approach

  • Partner elderly folks experiencing unstable housing and loneliness, together.
  • Create a nation-wide campaign to destigmatise homelessness.
  • Build shelters in every town and community.
  • Provide specialist support for those experiencing homelessness, to ensure they are well cared for and safe.
  • Scrap the law (in the UK) that prohibits people from receiving services from outside their boroughs.

 

If you have any suggestions to add to this list, please comment on the blog below to start a conversation.

 

We’d like to continue to develop this thinking as part of our work with government bodies who are working on building back better to a wellbeing economy.

 

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