Reducing homelessness

The goal of the assessment

The main question of the assessment was whether homelessness has been reduced in a sustainable manner in Helsinki. The assessment examined whether supported housing aimed at reducing homelessness and the City’s own rental housing stock reserved for this purpose are sufficient in the long term and whether the City’s service process for the unhoused has succeeded in reducing long-term homelessness. Whether the City has developed outreach work aimed at reaching and providing services to hidden homeless people and whether the City has developed and expanded its housing counselling services in accordance with its action plan was also assessed.

Conclusions

Homelessness has been successfully reduced in a sustainable manner in Helsinki. The number of unhoused people has halved in the last six years. However, due to the poor economic situation in the construction sector, rental apartments may become scarce in the coming years and rents may increase. The City's supported housing is usually procured as a purchased service. Accessing supported housing may require queuing. The service process for unhoused people has successfully reduced long-term homelessness; the number of long-term unhoused people has also halved over the past six years. The City has developed outreach work to reach unhoused people. Emergency housing is perceived as unsafe in some areas, as places for women or substance-free services are not sufficiently differentiated from places for men and services for substance users. In addition to this, there is a perceived shortage of washing and laundry facilities for unhoused people. The City has developed and expanded its housing counselling services to serve all Helsinki residents regardless of their form of housing. Housing counselling services prevent a significant number of evictions every year and provide housing for clients at risk of homelessness.